One U.S. service member was killed over the weekend in a counterterrorism raid in Yemen, marking the first U.S. combat death of President Trump’s administration.
The raid on Saturday, which targeted Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also injured three service members. Another was wounded when a plane assisting in the operation experienced a hard landing, according to a release from U.S. Central Command, bringing the total number of wounded to four.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our elite servicemembers,” said Gen. Joseph Votel, the leader of U.S. Central Command. “The sacrifices are very profound in our fight against terrorists who threaten innocent peoples across the globe.”
The aircraft involved in the hard landing was damaged and intentionally destroyed.
The name of the killed service member is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The raid killed 14 members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and collected information that will give insight into the planning of future terrorist attacks, the release said.
Among those killed in the dawn raid are three senior al Qaeda leaders: Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims, according to an Associated Press report.
An Al Qaeda official told the Associated Press that the U.S. Apache helicopters struck from the air before dropping commanders onto the ground for the raid. He also alleged that women and children had been killed in the assault.
