US troops are fighting alongside UAE and Yemeni forces

The United States has deployed a small number of troops in Yemen, the Pentagon has confirmed. A report in the Washington Post claimed that the troops are taking part in an offensive against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in its stronghold of Shabwa province.

The Americans are currently fighting alongside an armed Yemeni tribal group, the Shabwami forces, and soldiers from the UAE. Overall, says the New York Times, 2,000 Yemeni fighters are being supported by both the US and the UAE.

The deployment is the latest US counterterrorism push against AQAP in Yemen. The objective is to drive the group out of South Yemen.

Read: US-backed Yemeni troops attack Al-Qaeda

President Donald Trump introduced legal authorisation in late March for parts of Yemen to be declared as “temporary battlefields” permitting the deployment of US troops for six-month periods without congressional permission or oversight.