US says civilians likely killed in Yemen raid; inquiry begun

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military is investigating the Yemen raid by U.S. special operations forces last weekend — and says it appears likely that innocent civilians, including children, were killed.

U.S. Central Command says civilians may have been hit by gunfire from aircraft called in to assist U.S. troops. The American forces were engaged in a ferocious firefight with militants from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the group's Yemen affiliate.

The military says the civilians may not have been visible to the U.S. forces because they were mixed in with combatants.

Nasser al-Awlaki told The Associated Press that among the children killed was his 8-year-old granddaughter — whose father was Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Yemeni-American cleric killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen in 2011.

The Pentagon hasn't confirmed the girl's death.