Trump’s First Strike in Yemen Kills 8-Yr-Old Girl and US Commando

“Almost everything went wrong (in the attack),” a US official said.

A US commando by the name of Willian Ryan Ownes and Nawar Anwar al-Alwaki, an eight-year-old girl, died in what was the first military raid carried out under President Donald Trump.

The US military said it killed 14 militants in a raid on a powerful al-Qaeda branch that has been a frequent target of US drone strikes. Medics at the scene, however, said around 30 people, including 10 women and children, were killed.

The eight-year-old girl was the daughter of US-born Yemeni preacher and al-Qaeda ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki who himself was killed in a US drone strike in 2011.

“Almost everything went wrong (in the attack),” a US official told NBC News.

Donald Trump called the operation a success and said intelligence gathered during the operation would help the United States fight terrorism but the young girl’s grandfather told a different story.

Nasser al-Awlaki said his grand-daughter was struck by a bullet in her neck and she died two hours later.

“They [the SEALs] entered another house and killed everybody in it, including all the women. They burned the house. There is an assumption there was a woman [in the house] from Saudi Arabia who was with al-Qaeda. All we know is that she was a children's teacher.”

While the Pentagon said 14 militants died along with “numerous” civilians, Nasser said the death toll of combatants and civilians were as high as 59.

(With inputs from NBC News.)