The US military killed "dozens" of AQAP fighters in an air-strike that targeted a training camp in western Yemen March 22. The Pentagon claims that the strike—on a camp in Hajr, in mountains west of the port city of Mukallah—will deny AQAP "safe haven," but the air campaign waged by the US against the al-Qaeda franchise since 2009 has done little to halt its advance. Since launching an offensive last year, AQAP has gained control of at least eight cities and towns in Yemen, including the provincial capitals of Hadramout (Mukallah), Abyan (Zinjibar) and Lahj (Houta). (See map [7].) (Long War Journal [8], BBC News [9], March 23)
Saudi Arabia announced earlier this month that it plans to scale back military operations in Yemen after the death toll of a March 15 air-strike in rebel-held Mustaba, Hajja governorate, reached 119 people, including 22 children. (WP [10], March 17; BBC News [11], March 15)
