U.S. airstrikes in Yemen target al-Qaida
Attacks first carried out in the nation since January Special Operations raid
WASHINGTON — The United States conducted airstrikes overnight Thursday against several targets suspected of belonging to al-Qaida across south-central Yemen, according to U.S. and Yemeni military officials, the first U.S. attacks in the country since an ill-fated Special Operations raid in January.
The coordinated series of attacks against al-Qaida militants occurred in three Yemeni provinces that have been suspected of being the site of terrorist activity — Abyan, Shabwa and Baydha — according to the Pentagon.
It was not clear if the strikes were conducted against targets identified using information collected from the January raid that killed one member of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 dead, wounded three others and left about two dozen civilians dead.
Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said Thursday that more than 20 strikes were “conducted in partnership with the government of Yemen” and were coordinated with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. He said the attacks targeted al-Qaida militants, equipment and infrastructure.
The mention that the strikes were done in partnership with Hadi’s government is notable because he had withdrawn permission for the United States to conduct Special Operations ground missions, a decision prompted by anger at the civilian casualties in the January raid.
Computers and cellphones seized during that raid offered clues about attacks al-Qaida could carry out in the future, including insights into new types of hidden explosives the group is making and new training tactics for militants, U.S. officials said.
But it is still unclear how much the information advances the military’s knowledge of the plans and future operations of al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen, and some intelligence and congressional officials have questioned how significant the information analyzed so far really is.
“There are obvious contradictions about the relative value of intelligence,” said Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., of the Intelligence Committee, who added in an interview this week that she would be seeking more explanations from intelligence officials.