The U.S. Has Pummeled Al Qaeda in Yemen. But the Threat Is Barely Dented.
This is an extraordinarily dangerous element of Al Qaeda." Lora Shiao, the acting director of intelligence for the National Counterterrorism Center, told a Senate hearing this month
that the Qaeda branch "continues to exploit the conflict in Yemen to gain new recruits and secure areas of safe haven, contributing to its enduring threat." Al Qaeda is not the only terrorist group seeking to take advantage of the turmoil in Yemen.
Since Feb. 28, as part of President Trump’s intensified campaign against terrorists, the United States has conducted nearly 130 airstrikes
in Yemen — mostly against Qaeda militants with about 10 against Islamic State fighters, according to the Pentagon’s Central Command.
30, 2017
MANAMA, Bahrain — The United States has tripled the number of airstrikes this year against Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, one of the deadliest
and most sophisticated terrorist organizations in the world.
Yet the top United States counterterrorism official
and other American intelligence analysts concede the campaign has barely dented the terrorist group’s ability to strike United States interests.
Nicholas J. Rasmussen stepped that It doesn’t feel yet that we’re ahead of the problem in Yemen,