The U.S. conducted a series of airstrikes overnight in Yemen targeting members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the same terrorist group that was the subject of a special operations raid in January.
In the bombing attack early Thursday morning Yemen time, more than 20 separate strikes targeted AQAP militants, equipment and infrastructure in the Yemeni governorates of Abyan, Al Bayda and Shabwah, according to the Pentagon.
“The strikes were conducted in partnership with the government of Yemen, and were coordinated with President [Abdrabbuh Mansour] Hadi,” Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said in a statement. “The government of Yemen is a valuable counter-terrorism partner, and we support its efforts to bring stability to the region by fighting known terrorist organizations like AQAP.”
The U.S. has called AQAP the most capable element of al Qaeda due to its ability to export terror to the West, and says it was behind the “underwear bomber,” Boston Marathon bombing and the 2015 attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris.
“AQAP has taken advantage of ungoverned spaces in Yemen to plot, direct and inspire terror attacks against the United States and our allies,” Davis said.
The airstrikes targeted militants, equipment, infrastructure, heavy weapons systems and fighting positions.
Publicly the Pentagon would not say if the strikes were based on the “valuable and actionable” intelligence it says was captured in the January raid by SEAL Team 6, but a senior defense official told the Washington Examiner that while “the raid yielded valuable intelligence, it was not directly related to these strikes.”
Pentagon sources said Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was angered by news media reports suggesting little was gained from the raid, which cost the life of Senior Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens.
“That is inaccurate,” said a senior Pentagon official, who said while much of the intelligence is still being exploited, the cache of seized computers, cellphones and hard drives has already produced leads as to where other al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula terrorists were located in Yemen, and who they were in contact with.
