US terror drone kills farmer in SE Yemen

A Yemeni farmer has been killed in an airstrike carried out by a US terror drone in southeastern Yemen.

According to witnesses, the US unmanned aircraft killed the farmer as he walked home in the village of al-Houta, near the city of Shibam on Wednesday morning.

Following the attack, a local government official also confirmed the report but he did not provide further details about the deadly airstrike.

The United States has launched numerous drone attacks in Yemen that have killed many civilians over the past few years.

On December 12, 2013, a US drone fired several missiles into a convoy of vehicles traveling to a wedding party in central Yemen, killing at least 17 people.

On December 15, 2013, Yemeni MPs strongly condemned US drone strikes inside the Arab country and the parliament passed a law banning the drone attacks.

Washington claims that its airstrikes target militants, but local sources say civilians have been the main victims of the non-UN-sanctioned airstrikes.

The US has come under fire for increasing its drone attacks in the Arab country.

On October 22, last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said US killer drone strikes in Yemen have led to the death of civilians over the past years in a blatant violation of international law.

“The US says it is taking all possible precautions during targeted killings, but it has unlawfully killed civilians and struck questionable military targets in Yemen,” said Letta Tayler, senior terrorism and counterterrorism researcher at Human Rights Watch.