US 'operating on the ground' now in Yemen: Pentagon

Pentagon, May 7: In addition to helping the Saudi-led coalition invading Yemen, the US has deployed a small number of troops on the ground to battle Al Qaeda militants around a key port city, the Pentagon has admitted. The US military has been “providing limited support” to the coalition led by Saudi Arabia in the fight against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), vy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters on Friday.
While Davis would not disclose the number of troops or their location, Pentagon officials confirmed that the US force was deployed near the near the city of Al-Mukalla, a port in the southern Hadramaut region of Yemen under AQAP control.
The US was providing “intelligence, maritime support, airborne intelligence surveillance and reconissance, aerial refueling, and medical aid” to forces loyal to the Saudi-backed government in Yemen, as well as Saudi and Emirati forces engaged around Al-Mukalla, The Washington Post reported.
These operations are separate from the Saudi-led campaign against the Houthi rebels, which began in March last year. The US has assisted the Saudis with mid-air refuelling and “some reconissance capabilities,” Pentagon officials said. (IANS)