DUBAI, United Arab Emirates ��A U.S. serviceman was killed in a raid against al-Qaida militants in Yemen, the U.S. military said. It was the first such loss since President Donald Trump took office.
Three others were wounded in the attack Saturday that killed about 14 of the militants and led to the capture of "information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots," the U.S. Central Command said Sunday.
A military aircraft assisting in the operation was intentionally destroyed after a hard landing near the raid, which resulted in an another service member's injury, the command said.
Trump was kept informed of the operation, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. Spicer, on ABC's "This Week," cited the risks faced by the U.S. military in fighting terrorists abroad as added justification for Trump's executive order to temporarily ban entry to the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim Middle East nations, including Yemen.
Al-Qaida has been active in Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula. The group has used the instability in Yemen to plan attacks against Saudi Arabia, which is fighting a proxy war against Iran in Yemen.
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(Carey reported from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ben Brody contributed to this report.)
