US wages second day of strikes on Qaeda in Yemen

The United States carried out a second day of air strikes against al Qaeda in Yemen on Friday, US officials said, in the latest sign of increasing US military focus on a group whose strength has grown during Yemen's civil war.

Since a January commando raid, the United States has shown a desire to both strike al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and to recover from what US officials acknowledge has been an intelligence shortfall about the group since Yemen's civil war forced the closure of the US Embassy in 2015.

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"We have a lot of gaps in our understanding of the organization," a US defense official said, adding the pullout of US personnel two years ago "certainly did not help our understanding of the situation."

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said at a news briefing that the United States had carried out more than 30 strikes over the past two days in Shabwah, Abyan and Al Bayda provinces.

The US military did not disclose how many al Qaeda fighters were killed on Friday although Reuters reported that Thursday's strikes, using manned and unmanned aircraft, left at least nine militants dead.

The US military did not rule out further strikes in the days ahead.

"I don't want to telegraph future operations but this is part of a plan to go after this very real threat and ensure they are defeated," Davis said at a Pentagon news briefing.

VITAL INTELLIGENCE?

America's military strategy in Yemen has become a political lightning rod issue after the late January raid against AQAP, authorized by President Donald Trump, resulted in the death of one of the commandos, U.S. Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens.

Critics questioned the value of the mission. That prompted a fierce rebuttal from Trump, who said during a televised address to Congress that "large amounts of vital intelligence" was seized in the operation. Trump's speech featured a standing ovation for Owens' widow.