WASHINGTON _ Civilians, including children, were probably killed in Yemen on Sunday during a predawn special operations raid, U.S. military investigators have determined, an assault in which a decorated Navy SEAL commando also died.
The raid was the first known counterterrorism operation and first confirmed combat fatality under President Donald Trump.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement late Wednesday that an unspecified number of civilians were probably killed in the midst of a fierce battle that included gunfire, hand grenades and airstrikes.
"The known possible civilian casualties appear to have been potentially caught up in aerial gunfire that was called in to assist U.S. forces in contact against a determined enemy that included armed women firing from prepared fighting positions, and U.S. special operations members receiving fire from all sides to include houses and other buildings," the statement said.
Chief Special Warfare Operator William "Ryan" Owens, 36, was killed and three other Navy SEAL Team 6 members were wounded during the raid, which was launched in central Yemen on a headquarters building belonging to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
Among those reportedly killed was the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born al-Qaida leader who was based in Yemen and killed in a 2011 drone strike.
The Pentagon had typically relied on drone strikes against the terrorist group, but U.S. commanders suspected they had found the group's headquarters and wanted to collect computers, electronic devices and other information inside in the hopes it could provide insight into planning of terrorist plots.
U.S. military officials initially denied allegations of civilian casualties in the nearly hourlong raid. But after images of dead women and children were shared on social media allegedly from the raid, the military said it was investigating.
"Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has a horrifying history of hiding women and children within militant operating areas and terrorist camps, and continuously shows a callous disregard for innocent lives," Col. John J. Thomas, U.S. Central Command spokesman, said in a statement.
"That's what makes cases like these so especially tragic."
