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| Arabia |
| US forces back on ground in Yemen: official |
| 2016-05-07 |
| [AA.TR] The U.S. has recently deployed troops to Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... to help United Arab Emirates forces drive al-Qaeda out of the port city of Mukalla, the Pentagon said Friday. "We have seen over a period of many months a troubling growth of AQAP [al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000... ] in Yemen," front man Capt. Jeff Davis said, adding that the U.S. sent a "small number of people" to help the United Arab Emirates [UAE] efforts to rout the bully boy group from the Hadhramut coastal region in the south, located 480 kilometers (300 miles) east of Aden. Davis declined to give a number of troops but said they are providing "intelligence support," and "assistance with operational planning." It has been less than two weeks that the troops have been in Yemen, he added. He underscored that the operation in Makalla is led by Yemeni forces, backed by gulf partners, particularly the UAE. Apart from troops on the ground, the U.S. is also providing Emirati forces with "airborne Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), maritime interdictions, security operations, medical support and aerial refueling," Davis said. The U.S. withdrew the remaining 1,000 Special Forces from Yemen amid security concerns following a Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews... uprising last year. Responding to a question about whether the Pentagon has ensured the security of the forces on the ground against the Houthis, Davis said that they are far away from the areas where Houthis are fighting. According to the front man, the U.S. also has one amphibious ship and two destroyers off the Makalla coast as well as several aircraft, including ISR and drones. |
| Posted by:Fred |