War On Terror: Trump's First Military Operation Kills 8-Year-Old Daughter Of Anwar al-Awlaki, Al-Qaeda Leader Who Was US Citizen

A prominent al-Qaeda leader’s 8-year-old daughter was one of the many child civilians who lost their lives in the crossfire of a deadly U.S. raid on al-Qaeda militants Sunday in Yemen. The attack was the first military operation authorized by President Donald Trump.

A U.S. commando also died in the dawn attack that killed the U.S. born al-Qaeda leader and preacher Anwar al-Awlaki’s daughter. The Pentagon has not given any information about the cause of the U.S. soldier's death. The raid was performed in an attempt to gather intelligence on al-Qaeda's military operations in the Arabian Peninsula.

“She was hit with a bullet in her neck and suffered for two hours,” Nasser al-Awlaki, the 8-year-old's grandfather told Reuters. "Why kill children? This is the new administration - it's very sad, a big crime.”

The U.S. military said they killed 14 militants in the al-Qaeda stronghold in the al-Bayda province in southern Yemen, which had already been the target of numerous U.S. drone strikes. But medical personnel at the scene reported there were around 30 deaths in the aftermath of the attack, which included 10 women and children.

“The daughter of Shaykh Anwar Al-Awlaqi is martyred in the US raid in Yemen today. Obama killed his son and now Trump kills his daughter,” a representative of the Jihadist group Al Maqalaat tweeted about the attack.

Trump called the military operation a success because the intelligence forces were able to gather would aid the country in their fight against Islamic extremists in the area.

American forces had not performed a military operation in Yemen since December 2014, just months before the nation found itself in a bloody civil that allowed al- Qaeda militants to flourish within its lawless areas.

Awlaki, who the Pentagon suspected was a senior recruiter within al- Qaeda’s heavy presence in the Arabian Peninsula, famously once said the “West would eventually turn against its Muslim citizens.” Awlaki was killed in 2011 by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen. He was a U.S. citizen.

Many pro-Islamic State social media users have posted online since Trump instituted a travel ban preventing citizens from seven Muslim nations from entering the U.S., and called it proof that Awlaki’s prediction was becoming a reality, The Washington Post reported Sunday.