The United States conducted airstrikes against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen overnight, according to a senior US official.
There were conflicting reports as to whether one or multiple locations were struck.
The strikes are the first ones to target the Yemen-based terror group since the deadly January raid that left Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens dead and several other servicemembers wounded. The mission also cost several civilians their lives and resulted in the loss of a US aircraft.
It is unclear at this time whether the latest strikes were the result of intelligence the US obtained from the January operation, which yielded multiple terabytes of data gathered from the AQAP site.
Sources have told CNN that important intelligence on a variety of areas was obtained in the ground raid, including information pertaining to locations of additional safe havens, explosives manufacturing, training and targets.
A US official tells CNN “the raid led to intelligence which will lead to future operations.”
But the raid has faced questions from lawmakers about its utility and execution, with several Trump critics questioning the value of the intelligence, whether the right calculation about the raid’s risks was made and whether the result was worth the costs. Owens’ father has called for an investigation.
Officials have disputed an NBC News report that declared the raid had yet to yield any actionable intelligence. The evaluation has not been completed, the sources said, and it would be unfair to make such a conclusion at this point. Officials do believe valuable information has been gained, according to the sources.
President Donald Trump defended the January raid in his Tuesday address to Congress. As Trump spoke, Owens’ wife, Carryn, looked up at the ceiling, seemingly to her late husband, as she sat crying.
“Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies,’ ” Trump said.
AQAP is considered by many analysts to be al Qaeda’s most capable affiliate, and the organization has been able to carve out a safe haven in Yemen amid the ongoing civil war there.
US defense officials have told CNN that the January raid was part of an “expanded mission set” aimed at going after the terror group.
This story has been updated.