U.S. conducts airstrikes against Al Qaeda in Yemen, first since ill-fated SEAL raid

[anatta]

The U.S. military conducted airstrikes in the predawn hours against suspected Al Qaeda positions Thursday across three provinces in Yemen, marking the first American attacks since an ill-fated Navy SEAL raid in January.

More than 20 airstrikes took place over several hours beginning at 3 a.m. local time and were coordinated with President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi's fragile government, the Pentagon said.

Yemen has been locked in a civil war since 2014. The resulting chaos has allowed the militant group, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to flourish and amass power in the country.

"The strikes will degrade the AQAP's ability to coordinate external terror attacks and limit their ability to use territory seized from the legitimate government of Yemen as a safe space for terror plotting," Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. "Targets of the strikes included militants, equipment, infrastructure, heavy weapons systems and fighting positions."

It's not clear whether intelligence gleaned from the special operations raid played any role in the airstrikes.

However, top U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, have said that cellphones, laptops and other equipment collected from the raid have resulted in vital intelligence on the group.

The mission comes at a time when the Pentagon is looking to increase its operations against the group.

AQAP has seized cities and towns, looted banks and raised millions of dollars by extorting companies, imposing taxes and export duties, and smuggling amid Yemen's multi-sided civil war.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/was...onducts-air-strikes-1488468984-htmlstory.html

 

[anatta]

AQAP has seized cities and towns, looted banks and raised millions of dollars by extorting companies, imposing taxes and export duties, and smuggling amid Yemen's multi-sided civil war.

it's very much like ISIS-it's causing immense problems for SA-and it's a terrorist training ground.

As long as we are not sucked into w/boots - go get them

 

[sear]

Whose "hands" are bigger?

President Obama's predator drone program was reportedly substantially up-tempo compared to Bush's.

So does DJ now have a standard to exceed, so President Trump can be the biggest and the best?