U.S. Raid in Yemen Garners Intelligence

https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1064682/us-raid-in-yemen-garners-intelligence

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2017 — The U.S. military raid on the militant Islamist group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula compound in Yemen Jan. 29 that killed a U.S. service member and injured three others yielded valuable intelligence, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters today. Material captured from the site will help the United States “gain a deeper insight into the group’s planning to help prevent terrorist attacks against innocent civilians in the United States and our coalition-partner nations,” he said.Similar site exploitation operations in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq have produced information about terrorist planner logistics, recruiting and financing efforts, Davis noted.“Until now, we’ve had limited access to terror sites on the ground to gain intelligence from [al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula],” he said.

Raid Conducted for Intel Gathering

“This [operation] was specifically to enable us to gather the information we needed to be able to map out this group better, and to prevent future foreign terrorist attacks,” the captain said, noting that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has a number of links to very specific, United States and Western-focused attacks.The three service members’ injuries occurred when an Osprey MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft made a hard landing during the operation, Davis said, adding that the inoperable Osprey was subsequently destroyed in place by a U.S. airstrike.