According to a new Pentagon statement on airstrikes against Yemen, at least 15 al-Qaeda fighters have been killed in the area since February. This includes a handful of strikes previously unreported, as well as some that had been confirmed.
The largest single unreported strike was in May, and killed four fighters. The statement declared al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as a “significant threat in the region,” and said nine airstrikes were carried out overall in 2016.
The Pentagon had confirmed early in May that the US had deployed ground troops back into Yemen, saying the troops had arrived in late April. They have not revealed how many troops are in Yemen, but it is believed to be a comparatively small presence.
The US had previously withdrawn its ground troops from Yemen when the Shi’ite Houthis took the capital city, and returned amid a new shift by the pro-Saudi forces, with whom the US is already cooperating, to also attack AQAP.