Al-Majalah camp attack

{{Infobox operational plan

| name = Al-Majalah camp attack

| partof = the al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen

| image =

| caption =

| scope =

| type = Airstrike

| location = Al-Maʽjalah, Abyan Governorate, Yemen

| coordinates = {{coord|13.972|N|46.462|E}}

| map_type = Yemen

| map_size = 250

| map_caption = Location of al-Majalah within Yemen

| map_label = al-Majalah

| planned =

| planned_by =

| commanded_by =

| objective =

| target = AQAP (U.S. claim)

| date = {{Start date|2009|12|17|df=y}}

| time =

| time-begin =

| time-end =

| timezone =

| executed_by = {{flagicon|United States}} Joint Special Operations Command

| outcome =

| casualties =

| fatalities = 55 (including 14 women and 21 children)

| injuries =

}}

The al-Majalah camp attack also referred to as the al-Majalah massacre{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OUcZCAAAQBAJ|title=Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield Enhanced Edition for Nook|last=Scahill|first=Jeremy|date=2013-06-04|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=9781568584843|pages=303–312}} occurred on December 17, 2009 when the United States military launched Tomahawk cruise missiles from a ship off the Yemeni coast on a Bedouin camp in the southern village of Al-Maʽjalah in Yemen, killing 14 alleged Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters and 41 civilians,{{cite news |last1=Filkins |first1=Dexter |date=6 February 2013 |title=What We Don't Know About Drones |url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-we-dont-know-about-drones |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928034905/https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-we-dont-know-about-drones |archive-date=28 September 2015 |access-date=5 September 2015 |agency=The New Yorker}}{{cite news |date=21 October 2013 |title=US: Reassess Targeted Killings in Yemen |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/10/21/us-reassess-targeted-killings-yemen |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912174848/https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/10/21/us-reassess-targeted-killings-yemen |archive-date=12 September 2015 |access-date=5 September 2015 |agency=Human Rights Watch}}{{cite news |date=October 22, 2013 |title=Yemen drones strikes cause civilians to 'fear the US as much as al-Qaeda' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/10397294/Yemen-drones-strikes-cause-civilians-to-fear-the-US-as-much-as-al-Qaeda.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022172729/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/10397294/Yemen-drones-strikes-cause-civilians-to-fear-the-US-as-much-as-al-Qaeda.html |archive-date=22 October 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London}}{{Cite news |author=Hugh MacLeod and Nasser Arrabyee |date=January 3, 2010 |title=Yemeni air attacks on al-Qaida fighters risk mobilising hostile tribes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/03/yemen-air-attacks-alqaida |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909084734/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/03/yemen-air-attacks-alqaida |archive-date=9 September 2013 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}{{Cite news |last=Raghavan |first=Sudarsan |date=2009-12-18 |title=Yemen asserts 34 rebels killed in raid on Qaeda |url=http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2009/12/18/yemen_asserts_34_rebels_killed_in_raid_on_qaeda/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604025759/http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2009/12/18/yemen_asserts_34_rebels_killed_in_raid_on_qaeda/ |archive-date=4 June 2011 |access-date=2010-01-27 |work=The Washington Post |publisher=The Boston Globe}} including 14 women and 23 children.

The attack

The al-Majalah camp attack took place on December 17, 2009, when the United States launched cruise missiles at the site.{{cite web |date=December 18, 2009 |title=Obama Ordered U.S. Military Strike on Yemen Terrorists |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cruise-missiles-strike-yemen/story?id=9375236 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213053220/https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cruise-missiles-strike-yemen/story?id=9375236 |archive-date=13 February 2010 |access-date=April 4, 2010 |publisher=Abcnews.go.com}}[https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hlU7jE2v2FvFiwS6ydhcDRTjhSZgD9CMCBJ00]{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Initially, both the U.S. and Yemeni governments denied U.S. involvement in the strikes, despite accusations from Amnesty International.{{cite web |last1=Spencer |first1=Richard |date=7 June 2010 |title=US cluster bombs 'killed 35 women and children' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/7806882/US-cluster-bombs-killed-35-women-and-children.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925224721/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/7806882/US-cluster-bombs-killed-35-women-and-children.html |archive-date=25 September 2015 |access-date=5 September 2015 |website=The Telegraph}}{{Cite web |title=Images of missile and cluster munitions point to US role in fatal attack in Yemen |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/yemen-images-missile-and-cluster-munitions-point-us-role-fatal-attack-2010-06-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610020504/https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/yemen-images-missile-and-cluster-munitions-point-us-role-fatal-attack-2010-06-04 |archive-date=10 June 2010}} Several months after the attack in Al Majalah, Amnesty International released photos showing an American cluster bomb and a propulsion unit from a Tomahawk cruise missile. A subsequent inquiry by the Yemeni parliament found that 14 Al Qaeda fighters had been killed, along with 41 civilians, including 23 children.

A primary target in the attacks was Qasim al-Raymi, an al-Qaeda leader who is suspected of, or has taken credit for, several attacks that killed many civilians and has threatened more attacks on the United States. Al-Raymi was believed to be behind the 2007 Marib suicide car bombing, which killed seven Spanish tourists and two Yemenis. However, al-Raymi survived the attack.{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1949324,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091224133634/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1949324,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 24, 2009 | work=Time | first=Abigail | last=Hauslohner | title=Despite U.S. Aid, Yemen Faces Growing al-Qaeda Threat | date=December 22, 2009}}