Section 12: Drone Attacks by U.S. Forces

The United States continued to carry out attacks in Yemen that killed and wounded civilians in 2018. Mwatana documented six apparent US drone strikes in 2018 that killed at least 17 civilians. Four others, including a child, and an additional child wounded, appeared to have registered in the US-aligned Yemeni army, although some did not appear to be participating in the current conflict and may have been civilians at the time of the attack. One apparent member of AQAP was wounded. The attacks occurred in Shabwa, Al Baydha, and Al Jawf governorates. Mwatana conducted more than 15 interviews with victims, relatives, and witnesses from the areas where attacks occurred, as well as conducted site visits and analyzed weapons remnants.

The United States said it carried out 36 aerial attacks in Yemen in 2018, claiming all of the attacks targeted Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) or the Islamic State in Yemen (IS-Y).^[1] In a report released in 2019, the Department of Defense again claimed it had killed no civilians in Yemen in 2018.[2] 

Legal Framework

In the case of an armed conflict, international humanitarian law governs the use of force. As discussed above, warring parties must conduct attacks in accordance with the principles of distinction, proportionality, precaution and humanity. Warring parties must distinguish at all times between military and civilian objectives, refrain from launching attacks which may be expected to cause civilian harm which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, and take all feasible precautions to avoid, and in all cases, to minimize,  incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, and damage to civilian objects. This includes, but is not limited to, doing everything feasible to verify that targets are military objectives. Civilians may lose their protected status during a period when they are directly participating in hostilities. Where there is doubt if a person may be targeted, a warring party must assume the person may not be. Association with or membership in an extremist group is not sufficient to render someone targetable. Outside an armed conflict, international human rights law governs the use of lethal force. The right to life is a fundamental right enshrined in numerous human rights treaties. The prohibition against the arbitrary deprivation of life is a peremptory norm.

Case Studies

●        On Saturday, 27 January 2018, at about 12 am, an apparently American drone bombed a black four-wheel drive vehicle in Al Masna’ah village, in Al Saeed district in Shabwah governorate, killing all seven men in the car.

The vehicle was owned by Saleh Muhammad Bin Olaywah (49 years old). He and the other six men were looking for his 14-year-old son, who had been missing for days.

The drone hit the vehicle when they arrived at Sar’ area, on the way to Al Musaina’ah village in Al Saeed district. The strike killed all seven men in the car, including Saleh Muhammad Bin Olaywah (49 years old), Ziyad Saleh Muhammad Bin Olaywah (20 years old), Khalid Faraj Muhammad Bin Olaywah (37 years old), Ali Faraj Muhammad Bin Olaywah (34 years old), Nabil Salem Ba’adlan (40 years old), Mubarak Muhammad Saleh Hudaij (41 years old), and Najeeb Muhammad Saleh Lasma’ (25 years old). According to testimony, all seven men were civilians. Mwatana found no credible indication any of the men were associated with any armed extremist group.

Jamal Saleh Bin Olaywah Al Atiqi (24 years old), a resident of the area, said that after Saleh’s son went missing, his father and other relatives went to look for him. “A drone hit the car with a missile, killing everyone who was on it in a very brutal manner. They were all innocent, and they had no links to any outlaw groups. Among the occupations of these men were taxi driver, teacher, soldier, college student, and beekeeper. They all have families and children that they supported, and the way that they were targeted and killed is a crime.”^[3]  Ahmad Ali Al Arib Al Tawsali (40 years old), a relative, said: “It was a direct hit, killing everyone that was in the car, and their bodies were turned into nothing more than burnt body parts.”^[4]

●        On Thursday, 8 March 2018, at about 3 pm, a drone targeted a Toyota Land Cruiser pick-up truck, killing all six people, including a child, inside.

The vehicle was hit in Al Khab Wal Sha’f area in Al Jawf governorate. The drone hit the car directly, killed everyone inside and destroyed the car and the victim’s personal weapons.^[5] The attack killed six people, including a child, from the Al Wahair family: Muhsin bin Ali Hadi Al Wahair (52 years old), Hizam Abdullah Saeed Al Wahair (40 years old), Shaji’ Abdullah Saeed Al Wahair (32 years old), Muhammad Abdullah Saeed Al Wahair (37 years old), Mahdi Saeed Abdullah Al Wahair (15 years old), and Abdullah bin Hasan Hamad Hiraidan (22 years old). The victims were from Al Mahashimah tribe, and were in a desert area on their way to Al Abr in the Hadramaut governorate when they died.

Abdullah bin Saeed Al Wahair (72 years old), the sheikh of the tribe, said: “We left our area (Al Mahashimah) and came to the Al Ruwaik Desert as IDPs because this area is safe and far from the conflict. But we got none of the security that we were looking for, and an American drone struck a vehicle with six members of our family on it. .. Three of them were my sons… and two my grandchildren. All of them were killed in a horrible manner.” He added, “They were good people and supported large families. Some of them were truck drivers, and others were laborers.”^[6]

Sinan Abdullah Al Wahair (36 years old), the brother of three of the people who died, said: “When we arrived at the site of the incident, I was shocked, and I collapsed from the brutality of the scene. I wish I would have died before I saw that. This is a crime, and a crime like this has never happened in our lives, and it has not happened to any of the tribes in Al Jawf.” He added: “Our lives and the lives of our children and women have become in constant danger because of these repeated attacks that have killed innocents without any justification. If we keep quiet about this, these drone strikes will only continue in this manner because the Yemeni government’s abandonment of us.”^[7]

Mwatana found no credible indication any of those killed were associated with any armed extremist group. The men were carrying weapons, which the strike destroyed. It is common for people in tribal areas of Yemen to carry personal weapons. According to two of their relatives, Mohammed and Mohsen were truck drivers, transporting goods and relief items from Saudi Arabia to Yemen. Housam and Chajeh lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, while Abdallah and Mahdi, a child, had enlisted as border guards in the First Brigade of the Yemeni army under President Hadi. U.S. Central Command confirmed it carried out an attack in al Jawf on March 8, but did not provide details regarding the intended target, nor any resulting civilian harm.

 We have updated this section to provide additional clarity on the composition of casualties caused by the drone strikes documented by Mwatana in 2018.