Yemen seeks ‘reassessment’ of deadly US raid

CAIRO – Yemen’s foreign minister said Wednesday his country has asked for a “reassessment” of a U.S. raid last month that killed several women and children, but denied reports that his government has requested a suspension of American ground operations.

Abdul-Malik al-Mekhlafi said that “Yemen continues to co-operate with the United States and continues to abide by all the agreements.” He added that the government “is involved in talks with the U.S. administration on the latest raid.”

He said reports that Yemen has demanded a halt to U.S. special operations are “not true.”

The Jan. 28 raid against al-Qaida militants in central Yemen killed several women and children. A Navy SEAL was also killed in the raid, and six U.S. soldiers were wounded.

In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said: “We are not aware of any such ban, and in fact have seen reports of Yemeni officials disputing this report.

” The government of Yemen under President Hadi has been a strong partner in the fight against AQAP, and we continue to closely co-ordinate our operations with them,” he added