{"slug":"yemen-al-hathla-marib-seal-raid-2017","title":"Navy SEAL Raid in Ma'rib, Yemen: Villagers Say Five Civilians Killed, Including a 15-Year-Old Shot While Fleeing (May 2017)","date":"2017-05-23","lastUpdated":"2026-10-04","description":"On May 23, 2017, US Navy SEALs supported by helicopters and airstrikes raided the hamlet of al Adhlan in al Jubah district, Ma'rib province, Yemen, to gather intelligence on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The Pentagon said seven AQAP militants were killed and that there were 'no credible indications of civilian casualties.' Villagers interviewed by The Intercept said five civilians were killed and five wounded, among them a 15-year-old boy shot as he fled with women and children and a man of at least 70 killed as he went to greet the soldiers. Airwars, which compiled reports from Reprieve, The Intercept, Al-Arabi and the Yemeni group Mwatana, records 2 to 12 civilian deaths and grades the allegation 'fair'; Mwatana's investigation found two to three civilians killed. It was the second SEAL raid in Yemen acknowledged by the US military since Trump took office.","summary":"Four months after the deadly Yakla raid, US special forces raided another Yemeni village. The Pentagon reported seven al-Qaeda fighters killed and no civilian casualties; villagers said five civilians were killed, including a teenager shot while running away and an elderly man who mistook the soldiers for visitors.","category":"extrajudicial-killing","severity":"severe","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://theintercept.com/2017/05/28/villagers-say-yemeni-child-was-shot-as-he-tried-to-flee-navy-seal-raid/","title":"Villagers Say Yemeni Child Was Shot as He Tried to Flee Navy SEAL Raid","publisher":"The Intercept"},{"url":"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/raid-kills-al-qaeda-fighters-yemen-170523041426734.html","title":"US raid kills 'seven al-Qaeda fighters' in Yemen","publisher":"Al Jazeera"},{"url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-troops-in-yemen-raid-vs-al-qaeda-seeking-intelligence/","title":"U.S. troops in Yemen raid vs. al Qaeda seeking intelligence","publisher":"CBS News"},{"url":"https://airwars.org/civilian-casualties/usyemtr084-c-may-23-2017/","title":"USYEMTr084-C – May 23, 2017: US special forces raid in Al Nijad Al Adhlan, Ma'rib","publisher":"Airwars"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Yemen","Navy SEALs","special operations","AQAP","civilian casualties","children","Ma'rib","first term"],"relatedEntries":["yakla-yemen-raid-civilian-massacre","saudi-arms-deal-yemen-war-complicity"],"timeline":[{"date":"2017-05-23","title":"SEAL raid on al Adhlan","summary":"US special forces raid a village in Ma'rib province with helicopter and air support. CENTCOM reports seven AQAP members killed and, through a Pentagon spokesman, 'no credible indications of civilian casualties' (Al Jazeera; CBS News; The Intercept)."},{"date":"2017-05-28","title":"Villagers describe civilian deaths","summary":"The Intercept publishes accounts from villagers, gathered by phone and from activists who visited the wounded in hospital, saying five civilians including a 15-year-old were killed and five wounded."}],"location":{"name":"al Adhlan, al Jubah district, Ma'rib province, Yemen"},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"potential","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Geneva Conventions (1949)","article":"Common Article 3","provision":"Prohibition of violence to life and person against those taking no active part in hostilities (non-international armed conflict)"},{"statute":"Customary international humanitarian law","article":"Principles of distinction and precaution","provision":"Attacks may only be directed against combatants and military objectives; civilians lose protection only while directly participating in hostilities. (The US is not party to Additional Protocol II but accepts these rules as custom.)"},{"statute":"Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court","article":"Article 8(2)(c)(i) and 8(2)(e)(i)","provision":"Violence to life of persons taking no active part in hostilities; intentionally directing attacks against civilians in a non-international armed conflict. The United States and Yemen are not parties."},{"statute":"Convention on the Rights of the Child","article":"Article 38","provision":"Protection of children affected by armed conflict (the US has signed but not ratified; cited as a statement of the standard)"}],"iccRelevance":false,"civilianCasualties":2,"victims":"According to villagers interviewed by The Intercept and to Reprieve: five people killed and five wounded. Mwatana's investigation found two to three civilians killed; Airwars records a range of 2 to 12. Named dead include Abdullah Saeed Salem al Adhal, 15; Nasser Ali Mahdi al Adhal, at least 70 (partially blind, according to Reprieve); and Al Khader Saleh Salem al Adhal, a Yemeni army soldier (whose status as a civilian is unclear). Named wounded include Othman Mohammed Saleh al Adhal, 12, and Murad al Adhal, 22, a college student. These figures are from residents' accounts and have not been independently verified or acknowledged by the US.","perpetrators":"US Navy SEALs and supporting US aircraft under US Central Command; President Donald Trump as commander-in-chief","structuredVictims":[{"group":"Residents of al Adhlan, Ma'rib province","nationality":"Yemeni","status":"at least two killed (Mwatana: two to three; villagers and Reprieve: five, including a 15-year-old); five wounded including a 12-year-old, according to villagers","count":2}],"structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"US Central Command","role":"Conducted the raid","institution":"Department of Defense"}],"keyPoints":["On May 23, 2017 US Navy SEALs, estimated by villagers at 40–60, raided al Adhlan in Ma'rib, supported by Apache helicopters and other aircraft (The Intercept). CENTCOM said seven AQAP members were killed 'through a combination of small arms fire and precision airstrikes' (Al Jazeera; CBS News).","US officials said the aim was to gather electronic equipment such as phones and laptops for 'insight into AQAP's disposition, capabilities and intentions' (The Intercept; CBS News). Two SEALs suffered non-life-threatening arm injuries (CBS News).","Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said there were 'no credible indications of civilian casualties' (The Intercept).","Villagers told The Intercept that 'five civilians including a child were killed and another five were wounded'. They said 15-year-old Abdullah Saeed Salem al Adhal 'was shot dead as he fled from his home with women and children'; that Nasser Ali Mahdi al Adhal, at least 70, 'was killed while attempting to greet the Navy SEALs, after apparently mistaking them for visitors' (Reprieve said he was partially blind); and that 12-year-old Othman Mohammed Saleh al Adhal was wounded.","Villagers also said at least four homes were destroyed and dozens of livestock killed. One of those killed, Al Khader Saleh Salem al Adhal, was a Yemeni army soldier (The Intercept).","AQAP issued a statement denying there was an al-Qaeda camp in the village (The Intercept). Al Jazeera noted that the official statements 'could not be independently verified.'","Airwars (incident USYEMTr084-C) records 2–12 civilian deaths and 2–10 injuries, graded 'fair' (reported by two or more credible sources). It notes that Reprieve, The Intercept and Al-Arabi reported five civilians killed, while Mwatana's investigation concluded two to three civilians died."],"searchAliases":["Al Hathla raid","al Adhlan raid","al Jubah","Marib SEAL raid","Yemen raid May 2017"],"legalBasis":"Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and customary IHL (distinction, precaution) applicable to the US–AQAP non-international armed conflict; Rome Statute Article 8(2)(c)(i) and (e)(i) as definitions of war crimes (no ICC jurisdiction over the US or Yemen).","postureNote":"Civilian casualties are alleged by villagers interviewed by The Intercept and by Reprieve, and separately investigated by the Yemeni group Mwatana, which found two to three civilians killed; Airwars grades the allegation 'fair' with a range of 2–12. The Pentagon denied credible indications of civilian casualties and has not published an investigation. Al Jazeera and CBS News confirm the raid, the location and the official account but not the civilian deaths. The classification is 'potential': the facts, if accurate, could constitute attacks on persons taking no active part in hostilities, but the evidence is testimonial, the counts disagree, and the deaths are unacknowledged.","relatedIncidents":["yakla-yemen-raid-civilian-massacre","saudi-arms-deal-yemen-war-complicity"]}}