Relatives of people killed in drone strikes in Yemen have written to the defence secretary to ask about UK involvement in the killings and request that he meet them.
The family members said they have suffered “immense loss” of loved ones – including children – at the hands of US targeted drone strikes and are demanding to know what part the UK has played.
Among the bereaved signatories are members of the al-Ameri and al-Taisy families who between them have lost 34 relatives, nine of them children – the youngest just three months old – in a series of strikes over several years. They included a US drone strike in 2013 on the wedding of Abdullah al-Ameri and Warda al-Taisy.
The letter to the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, seen by the Guardian, says: “The loved ones that have been taken from us are not ‘collateral damage’ or casualties of war. We live far from any battlefield and have no connection to militant groups of any kind. Can you tell us, face to face, that the UK played no role in the missile attacks that have ripped our families to pieces?”
Read the full story at the Guardian.