A US military raid in Yemen has resulted in the death of several women and children, including eight-year-old Nawar al-Awlaki, the daughter of a US-born Yemeni extremist preacher who was killed in a drone strike by the Obama administration, US officials reported.

The raid, which was conducted by the super-secret Joint Special Operations Command in the southern province of al-Bayda on Sunday, was intended to capture valuable intelligence, senior US military official told the New York Times.

During the raid, at least eight women and seven children - aged 3 to 13 - were killed, a Yemeni government official in the province said. Among them was Nawar.

This is the 8-year-old girl killed in US raid in Yemen, Arabic media reports https://t.co/nPlWh6LqE3

US killed her teen American brother too pic.twitter.com/QP0TsgdIfq — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) January 29, 2017

“She was hit with a bullet in her neck and suffered for two hours,” the girl’s grandfather Nasser al-Awlaki, who was minister in a previous government, told Reuters. “Why kill children? This is the new (US) administration — it’s very sad, a big crime.”

Nawar has become the first US citizen to be killed by the new government of Donald Trump. Her 16-year-old US-born brother, Abdulrahman, was also killed in a drone strike two weeks after former President Barack Obama ordered the assassination of their father Anwar al-Awlaki, which the US says was a recruiter for al-Qaeda. Abdulrahman was killed along with his 17-year-old cousin and several other Yemenis.

Locals who witnessed the attack, said a school, a health facility and a mosque were badly damaged in the attack. Witness said that Americans were “everywhere” and that people were jumping out of helicopters.

Among those killed were member of the al-Dhahab family. This was not the first operation by US military forces targeting the Dhahab family. Al-Dhahab family, who are the late al-Awlaki’s in-laws, are considered by the US as an ally of al-Qaeda.

One member of the SEAL Team 6 was also killed in the attack. US Defense Secretary James Mattis released a statement on Monday identifying the dead SEAL as Chief Petty Officer William Ryan Owens.

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:50 - GMT 06:50