Elite American soldiers, intelligence operatives hired to assassinate targets in Yemen in 2015: report

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A group of Americans who had been elite soldiers or intelligence operatives were paid tens of thousands of dollars by the United Arab Emirates to assassinate political leaders and Islamic clerics in Yemen in 2015, a new report says.

According to a BuzzFeed reported published Tuesday, the Delaware-incorporated Spear Operations Group recruited top veterans from the U.S. military after Spear was hired by the UAE to conduct a series of targeted killings for $1.5 million per month. The soldiers who allegedly signed on to do the dirty work were offered more than $25,000 a month.

“There was a targeted assassination program in Yemen,” Spear founder Abraham Golan, told BuzzFeed. “I was running it. We did it. It was sanctioned by the UAE within the coalition.”

Golan, a Hungarian-Israeli security contractor who lives outside of Pittsburgh, was referencing the Saudi-led band of nine countries fighting a proxy war against Iran in Yemen. The U.S. has helped the coalition by providing weapons, intelligence and other items, the report said.

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More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the conflict since the coalition intervened in 2015.

More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians have died in Yemen. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi - RC1F137FC550

Golan told BuzzFeed that his team – which reportedly included a former member of the CIA, a Special Forces sergeant with the Maryland Army National Guard and two former Navy SEALs – was responsible for a number of the war’s most high-profile assassinations. The group allegedly received 23 targets from the UAE, but Golan did not identify any victims.

The CIA reportedly told BuzzFeed that it had no information about Spear’s missions in Yemen and the Navy Special Warfare Command declined to comment for the report.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

BuzzFeed reported the principle operation in 2015 targeted Anssaf Ali Mayo, the local leader of Islamist political party Al-Islah. This expose marked the first time it’s been reported the mission was carried out by U.S. mercenaries.

The UAE reportedly considered Al-Islah to be the Yemen branch of the worldwide Muslim Brotherhood organization. Several countries have designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, and the topic has even sparked some debate about if the U.S. should designate it as one (America does not classify the Brotherhood as a terror group). Experts who spoke to BuzzFeed categorized Al-Islah as a legitimate political party that threatens the “UAE, not through violence, but by speaking out against its ambitions in Yemen.”

A government soldier mans a machine gun mounted on a patrol truck, at a neighbourhood the army took over, after clashes with armed militants in Taiz, Yemen August 14, 2018. REUTERS/Anees Mahyoub - RC146E8A19A0

The post-Christmas 2015 assassination attempt against Mayo – which included a bomb laced with shrapnel attached to Al-Islah headquarters in the city of Aden – ultimately failed, despite two explosions going off.

According to BuzzFeed’s retelling of the armed attack, the group's plan went haywire when the mercenaries were caught in a shootout outside the building before they could plant the bomb. Mayo had also reportedly left the building about 10 minutes before the attack commenced.

A spokesman for Al-Islah told BuzzFeed the assassination attempt was the “first attack” against them.

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Isaac Gilmore, a former U.S. Navy SEAL who was allegedly part of the mission targeting Mayo, told BuzzFeed some of the people the unit targeted were members of Al-Islah, some were clerics and some he had no doubt were terrorists.

“There is the possibility that the target would be someone who [UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed] doesn’t like,” he added. “We’d try to make sure that didn’t happen.”

Americans involved in these types of missions operate in a “legal and political gray zone,” according to Buzzfeed.

U.S. law says it is illegal to “conspire to kill, kidnap or maim” in a foreign country, however, the U.S. does not prohibit mercenaries. (istock)

Under U.S. law it is illegal to “conspire to kill, kidnap or maim” in a foreign country; however, the U.S. does not prohibit mercenaries. Americans can also legally serve in foreign militaries.

Golan said a part of the agreement with the UAE was the U.S. mercenaries would be given military ranks by incorporating them into the Emirates’ Armed Forces.

He said the uniforms and dog tags would mark “the difference between a mercenary and military man.”