The Pentagon on Friday mistakenly posted a video it claimed had been recovered from a recent anti-terror raid in Yemen that had actually been recovered nearly decade ago.

The Defense Department had uploaded footage of a Jihadist training video purported to have been seized as part of a raid on an al Qaeda compound in Yemen in late January.



That action – which was President Trump’s first counter-terrorism offensive – killed more than a dozen of terrorists, but also claimed the life of one Navy SEAL. Civilians, including children, were also reportedly killed.

The military has since removed the footage from its video distribution website, acknowledging that it was captured during a previous raid in Yemen in 2007.

Turns out video released by @CENTCOM as evidence of valuable intel from #Yemen raid was actually 9-years-old & already circulating widely — Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 3, 2017

The video of a masked man explaining how to kill Americans with explosives rocketed across the internet after the Pentagon pushed it out.



U.S. Central Command released a statement on the video, calling it “one example of the volumes of sensitive al-Qa’eda terror-planning information recovered during the operation.”



“What was captured from the site has already afforded insights into al-Qa’eda leadership, AQAP methods of exporting terror, and how they communicate,” Centcom spokesman John Thomas said.

Still, Centcom insists that the raid “will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots."



The raid in Yemen has become a flashpoint of controversy.



Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens died in the operation and four other service members were injured.



Centcom has concluded “regrettably that civilian non-combatants were likely killed.” There are reports that these number as high as two-dozen and include women and children.



Media reports about the raid described a chaotic scene of U.S. soldiers moving on a heavily guarded compound where the al Qaeda fighters may have been tipped off to their plans.



Reuters cited U.S. military officials in a report claiming that the operation was approved without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup operations.



The White House has pushed back hard against these claims, and on Thursday detailed the months-long planning process which began in early November, when President Obama was still in office.

