US murders more innocents in apparent Yemen drone attack

Civilians killed in Yemen onslaught
15 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

At least 44 people, including 12 civilians were killed in Yemen, officials and residents said on Tuesday, as the government pressed ahead with a new US-backed offensive against insurgents in the south of the country.

Washington has stepped up its drone attacks in Yemen since President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office in February, and the Pentagon said last week it had recently resumed sending military trainers to the Arab state.

Several Al-Qaeda suspects were killed in the first airstrike while 12 civilians who had gathered around the residence right after the attack died in a second air raid, witnesses said.

It is unclear where the airstrikes came from, but the United States routinely carries out drone and air raids on Yemen, with the Yemeni government frequently taking responsibility to cover US actions in the impoverished Arab country.

The strike comes two days after a visit by US counterterrorism advisor, John O. Brennan, to Yemen as Washington fights to maintain strong influence over a country racked by a year of mass pro-democracy protests, a splintered army, and a growing Islamist insurgency in the south. …more