US Confirms Yemen Counterterrorism Strikes

The US military has conducted four counterterrorism airstrikes against the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula terrorist organization in Yemen in recent weeks, killing 10 al-Qaeda operatives and injuring one, US Central Command officials confirmed.

According to US officials, an April 23 strike on April 23 killed two al-Qaada in the Arabian Peninsula operatives in west-central Yemen’s Marib governorate.

An April 25 strike in the Abyan governorate near Yemen’s southern coast killed two al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives near Yemen’s southern coast, and a second strike on the same day killed two al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives near Azzan in central Yemen.

An April 28 strike killed four al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives and injured one in central Yemen’s Shabwah province.

Significant Threat to Region

“[Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] remains a significant threat to the region, the United States and beyond,” Centcom officials said in a statement announcing the strikes. “Al-Qaeda’s presence has a destabilizing effect on Yemen, and it is using the unrest in Yemen to provide a haven from which to plan future attacks against our allies as well as the U.S. and its interests.”

The United States will not relent in its mission to degrade, disrupt and destroy al-Qaeda and its remnants, Centcom officials added. “We remain committed to defeating [al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] and denying it safe haven regardless of its location.”

US strikes in Yemen continue to diminish al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s presence in the region, officials said in the statement.