Over the weekend, the US State Department has confirmed, the Pentagon has completed pulling out its final 100 Special Operations forces from Yemen, all of whom had been at al-Anad airbase.
The airbase, near the southern city of Houta, had been the home for covert US military campaigns against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the al-Qaeda affiliate for Yemen.
The State Department said the move was related to increasing instability in the country. The Hadi government, which had supported US presence, was ousted weeks ago, and the Houthis who currently hold the capital are as opposed to the US and they are to AQAP themselves.
Officials from the State Department insisted, however, that the lack of US ground troops in Yemen would not impact the ongoing conflict against AQAP, suggesting that the drone war will continue.
