TerrorismObama administration renews drone campaign in Yemen

Responding to intelligence information about planned terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), information which led to the closure of twenty-two U.S. embassies in the Middle East and North Africa and a travel warning issued by the Department of State, the Obama administration has launched a series of drone strikes in Yemen over the past ten days.

The Washington Post reports that the revived drone campaign, which included five strikes in rapid succession, was the direct result of information pointing to the central role AQAP was to play in the end-of-Ramadan attacks.

The BBC reports the specific terror plots which AQAO planned were thwarted by the drone strikes and the redeployment of Yemeni forces, but U.S. intelligence officials are not convinced.

“It’s too early to tell whether we’ve actually disrupted anything,” a senior U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “What the U.S. government is trying to do here is to buy time,” the official added.

The renewed drone strikes came after 7-week hiatus. An attack on Wednesday killed seven militants, and one on Thursday killed another four, according to the Associated Press.

“It’s too early to tell whether we’ve actually disrupted anything,” a senior U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. 

The Post notes that the renewed drone campaign provides a look into the administration’s approach to counterterrorism operations. Obama has introduced strict targeting guidelines this year, but those rules are relaxed when it comes to the response of an elevated threat.

“They have been holding fire,” a U.S. official with access to information about the al-Qaeda threat and the drone campaign told the Post.

So far this year, the CIA and the U.S. military have executed sixteen drone strikes in Yemen, according to the New America Foundation, which monitors the drone campaign. Last year, a record fifty-four strikes were carried out.

The Pentagon has announced that it will keep an undisclosed number of military personnel in Yemen to assist Yemeni government forces.