According to US Central Command, at least six airstrikes were carried out by US forces over the past week in Yemen. The strikes were intended to targeted the local al-Qaeda affiliate in al-Bayda Province.



As usual, Centcom offered no casualty data or any details of who was hit, or who was even the intended target. Bayda is known as a major haven for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) but strikes into the province aren’t necessarily productive to that US air war.



The reason Centcom discussed the matter at all seems to have been to clarify that this was part of an anti-al-Qaeda campaign, and not in any way related to the Saudi invasion of Yemen. Despite that, Centcom says that the operation was coordinated with the Saudi-backed government.



Centcom further said that they’ve launched eight strikes overall in 2019, including two in January. One of the January strikes was accused of killed Jamal al-Badawi, who was accused of being involved in the USS Cole bombing.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz