IRBIL, Iraq — President Trump is “foolish” and has ignited the “flame of jihad” with a raid in Yemen in which civilians were killed, al-Qaeda said Friday in its first official comments on the new U.S. administration.
That the raid came only days after Trump’s vow to eradicate Islamist terrorism in his inauguration speech makes it “clear for us that the threat was not directed to the Islamic militants only, but to all the Muslims, men, women and even children,” al-Qaida’s al-Nafeer bulletin said, accusing the Trump administration of intentionally killing women and children.
U.S. Central Commandhas not specified how many civilians were killed in the raid Jan. 28, in which a U.S. Navy SEAL also died. Among those reported dead was the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric with al-Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen who was killed in a 2011 U.S. drone strike.
Trump’s comments indicating that he will heavily bomb Islamic State militants have caused nervousness for some in the region. In the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where about 750,000 civilians still remain in areas under Islamic State control, the United States has so far used strict rules of engagement.
But Trump’s executive order on defeating the Islamic State said a plan should recommend changes to U.S. rules of engagement and other “policy restrictions that exceed the requirements of international law.”
