Thursday's American air strike on two suspected al-Qaeda training camps in Yemen killed 30 members of al-Qaeda., including Mohammed Saleh al-Kamini, the commander of one of the camps. A ground raid on Thursday killed four more. Early reports were that the ground raid was carried out by Yemeni forces.
One missile missed its target and hit a village of shepherds. A local official said that 49 civilians were killed, including 23 children and 17 women. He said the strike was carried out "indiscriminantly".
“Al-Qaeda has chosen to build its training center on land where bedouin nomads pitch their tents, and the government forces believe the nomads harbor Al-Qaeda forces,” said a tribal leader. There is speculation that the government didn't tell the US that the bedouins were there.
The effects of the raid are already being seen. The Yemeni people, who had been demonstrating against their repressive dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh, demanding civil rights, a free press, transparency and an end to violence against citizens, are now demonstrating against the air strike. There is speculation that they may turn to another major power to help them against the Saleh regime.
One of the raid's targets, Qasem al-Raimi, the second highest ranked al-Qaeda leader in Yemen escaped unharmed.
