US Special Operations Forces conducted a raid in the Marib Governorate of Yemen early Tuesday that killed seven militants and wounded several American personnel, Pentagon spokesperson Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters. The raid was a “counterterrorism operation” against a “base of operations” for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The special operators engaged in a firefight and called in “precision airstrikes” from an AC-130 gunship. The raid, which was conducted with the cooperation of the Yemeni government, was the first in that country since the Jan. 28 operation in which Chief Petty Officer Ryan Owens was killed. It was also the “furthest inland” ground operation US forces have conducted in Yemen to date, Davis told reporters.
The Pentagon plans to use U.S. Air Force C-17s and C-130s to deport 5,400 people currently detained by Customs and Border Protection, officials announced Jan. 22, the first act in President Donald Trump’s sweeping promise to crack down on undocumented immigrants and increase border security.