UK Special Forces, Al-Qaeda And The US Drone Strikes

A Vice News investigation claims to have obtained evidence revealing that British Special Forces have been involved in targeted strikes against Al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen for the last six years.

It's claimed UK soldiers on the ground have been helping draw up the 'kill lists' for US drone strikes. 

Speaking to Vice Stephen Seche, former US ambassador to Yemen, said that working with UK officers was ‘very collaborative’. Adding that British operatives had also helped train Yemeni teams in observation and intelligence gathering ahead of a number of missile attacks. 

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Human rights campaign group Reprieve say it shows the British military have been working 'hand in glove' with their American counterparts to covertly kill.

While it is a longstanding Government policy not to comment on Special Forces activity a Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We have previously provided counter-terrorism capacity building support to the Yemeni Security Services to increase their ability to disrupt, detain and prosecute suspected terrorists in line with Yemeni rule of law and international human rights standards."

"Following the suspension of Embassy operations in Sana’a in February 2015 we suspended this activity."

"We continue to work with regional and international partners to tackle the threat posed by terrorist organisations including AQAP and Daesh-Yemen and to build regional capacity on counter terrorism. For operational reasons we cannot comment in detail on this activity."