U.S. forces conducted an assault early Tuesday on what the military described as a compound associated with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in Yemen’s Marib Governorate, killing seven militants.
“During this operation, U.S. forces killed seven AQAP militants through a combination of small arms fire and precision airstrikes,” a statement from U.S. Central Command said. “Raids such as this provide insight into AQAP’s disposition, capabilities and intentions, which will allow us to continue to pursue, disrupt, and degrade AQAP.”
This was the first ground operation in Yemen since the Jan. 29 raid approved by Trump in his first days in office, which resulted in the death of Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, the first American to die in combat under the Trump administration. There were no U.S. casualties in this new operation.
“This is the first time we have conducted and operation into Marib Governorate,” said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, “and this marks the deepest we have ever gone into Yemen to fight AQAP.”
Davis said while there were no U.S. deaths in the operation, the U.S. special operations forces met heavy resistance, and had to call in air support from a U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship.
Several U.S. troops sustained wounds, but all were able to leave under their own power, and none of the injuries was considered life-threatening.
The Central Command statement noted that the Royal Government in Yemen supported the raid, and noted that AQAP attacked the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa in 2008 and has been linked to the Boston bombing in 2013 and the Fort Hood shooting in 2009, along with other “lone-wolf” attacks in the U.S. and Europe.
The New York Times reports the raid was conducted by SEAL Team Six, and was intended to seize intelligence such as computers, hard drives and cellphones, and was not an attempt to kill or capture a particular individual.
