Newsweek

Yemen: Why Women Fought Against the Navy SEALs

In Yemen, starvation and a bloody civil war are leading some women to join Al-Qaeda.
Women walk past graffiti denouncing strikes by U.S. drones in Yemen, painted on a wall in the capital city of Sanaa, on February 6.
0209_yemen_01

Updated | The first counterterrorism operation authorized by President Donald Trump quickly went awry. In late January, Navy SEAL Team 6 and United Arab Emirates special forces attacked Al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, but the militants spotted the approaching Americans and an hourlong firefight ensued. One SEAL died and three others were injured, and Yemeni officials claim that between 13 and 16 civilians were killed—including at least eight women and children.

Those numbers are still being verified, but the dead reportedly included the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S.-born former top operative of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). (Al-Awlaki, and later his teenage son, was killed by American drone

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Newsweek

Newsweek14 min readPolitical Ideologies
‘I Am Always In The Moment’
A YEAR AFTER INDIA OVERTOOK CHINA to become the world’s most populous country, its rapid upward economic trajectory and increasing diplomatic, scientific and military weight make it an emerging superpower of ever-growing importance to the United Stat
Newsweek3 min read
Newsweek
GLOBAL EDITOR IN CHIEF _ Nancy Cooper EXECUTIVE EDITOR _ Jennifer H. Cunningham VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL _ Laura Davis DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS _ Melissa Jewsbury OPINION EDITOR _ Batya Ungar-Sargon GLOBAL PUBLISHING EDITOR _ Chris Roberts SENIOR EDITOR
Newsweek13 min readWorld
Red Cows, Gaza And The End Of The World
IT IS SAID THAT THIS IS WHERE THE WORLD began—and perhaps where it will end. The true epicenter of the war in the Holy Land is not the devastated Gaza Strip, under Israeli assault since Hamas’ bloody raid last October sparked the region’s deadliest c

Related Books & Audiobooks