A Yemeni lawmaker alleges that former U.S. special forces operators working for a private military contractor tried to kill him in 2015 as part of a targeted assassination program commissioned by the United Arab Emirates.

The lawsuit, filed by Anssaf Ali Mayo in federal court in San Diego, provides details of the alleged campaign against political opponents of the UAE in Yemen. 

Mayo, a member of Yemen’s parliament, alleges that Abraham Golan, an Israeli-Hungarian dual citizen and founder of Spear Operations Group, along with former Navy SEAL Isaac Gilmore and former Army Special Forces member Dale Comstock, carried out war crimes, crimes against humanity, and an attempted extrajudicial killing while employed by the company.

Spear Operations was incorporated in Delaware in 2015 and was dissolved in 2018.

Golan reportedly assembled the assassination team on Dec. 14, 2015, at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, before their deployment to Yemen. Upon arrival, the team was handed a “23-man hit list” by a uniformed Emirati officer. According to court papers, the list consisted of “23 cards with 23 names and faces.”

The complaint states that an alleged attempt on Mayo’s life occurred on Dec. 29, 2015. 

Comstock reportedly threw an explosive into the building where Mayo was believed to be, but Mayo, having received a warning moments earlier, had already fled.

The attack forced him into exile in Saudi Arabia in 2016. He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and a court order to prevent the three men from targeting him further.

The complaint says the three men have acknowledged their involvement in the assassination campaign and the attempt on Mayo’s life. “There was a targeted assassination program in Yemen,” Golan confirmed to BuzzFeed. “I was running it. We did it. It was sanctioned by the UAE within the coalition.”

No arrests have been reported in connection with the lawsuit, and Golan, Gilmore, and Comstock have not publicly commented.