TEMPO.CO, Sanaa - United States has launched a drone strike targeting al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen. The attack also signaled Washington's determination to keep fighting the armed group despite the Gulf Arab country's political turmoil caused by a power grab by Shia Houthis.
Yemeni tribal and security officials in Marib Province said that drone missile had hit a vehicle carrying three men near the border with Shabwa province, an al-Qaeda stronghold, on Monday, January 26, 2015. According to The Associated Press news agency, the strike killed two Yemeni fighters and a Saudi fighter. However, a boy was also reportedly killed in the attack.
Despite the renewed drone campaign, Yemeni officials and analysts said that an effective US-backed ground strategy against the al-Qaeda affiliate has been undermined by the rapid disintegration of the Yemeni armed forces, which has received millions of dollars in US military aid.
Yemen itself has come to a bleak time, following Houthi's occupation of the presidential palace and the country's capital of Sanaa. The condition sparks further concerns about Washington's ability to continue targeting Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula group, which is the Yemeni branch of Al-Qaeda.
AL JAZEERA | CHOIRUL
