US Defense Department acknowledges January 8th airstrike that killed a senior al Qaeda leader in Yemen.
“The United States remains committed to eradicating the threats posed by al-Qaida and denying them safe haven.”
– Peter Cook, Pentagon Spokesperson
The airstrike happened during the night between January 7th January 8th in the remote area of al Bayda Governorate, Yemen, where US Intelligence sources on the ground had managed to acquire the whereabouts of a known high ranking al Qaeda in the Arabic Peninsula (AQAP), Abd al-Ghani al-Rasas.
al-Rasas had been on the US terrorist watch list as a senior al Qaeda member since early 2014, and was a well known facilitator and planner for the Salafist Jihadist group.
The airstrike was carried out against a building US intelligence had identified and had eyes on al-Rasas, and there are at the present no reports of additional collateral from the strike.
The Pentagon spokesperson on the matter, Peter Cook, stated “This operation is an example of the U.S. government and our allies’ commitment to the people and the government of Yemen to detect, deter, disrupt and defeat violent extremists who threaten progress in the region, as well as threaten to conduct terrorist attacks against innocent people in the region and around the world.”
Since early 2015, Yemen has been unraveling due to a civil war that has killed thousands and forcefully displaced over 10 percent of the population. In what has become a humanitarian catastrophe, hundreds, mostly women and children, die every month due to malnutrition and lack of medical care.
AQAP has taken advantage of the disarray and increased its territory across the country, securing cities and providing alternative infrastructure. As a result of the group’s recent successes in the region, the US has focused its attention to a higher degree, and has begun carrying out an aggressive counter offensive using air and drone capabilities to take out leaders of the group. In January, the US has seemingly been involved in the direct actions and targeted killing of some 12 Salafist Jihadist fighters affiliated with the AQAP in Yemen alone.
Lima Charlie News reported on January 15th about the increased attention that the US Intelligence community is giving al Qaeda and its affiliated groups in the Levant. An intelligence and air capability offensive against the group has, in Syria alone, resulted in the death of over 50 jihadist fighters in the first week of 2017. The US has also deployed US Special Operations units on direct action missions to search and destroy al Qaeda fighters and leaders in recent weeks.
John Sjoholm, Lima Charlie News
John Sjoholm is Lima Charlie’s Middle East Bureau Chief, Managing Editor, and founder of the consulting firm Erudite Group. A seasoned expert on Middle East and North Africa matters, he has a background in security contracting and has served as a geopolitical advisor to regional leaders. He was educated in religion and languages in Sana’a, Yemen, and Cairo, Egypt, and has lived in the region since 2005, contributing to numerous Western-supported stabilisation projects. He currently resides in Jordan. Follow John on Twitter @JohnSjoholmLC
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