A special operations mission that strikes deep into the heart of a war-torn country like Yemen leverages a whole array of assets, including transport, surveillance, and tactical air support aircraft. Since a civil war continues to smolder in the country, and Saudi Arabia and Arab gulf states have reignited operations in and over the country, coordination with these separate elements may have been required in order to deconflict the airspace and to make sure no deadly mistakes were made.
The thing is, although US special operations forces have been active in western Africa, they have largely stayed out of Yemen since the country sunk into civil war two years ago. Nearly all known US operations in the country have been targeted assassination and surveillance missions executed by unmanned aircraft. Two occurred just days ago, only a few days after Donald Trump took up shop in the Oval Office.
But the use of ”boots on the ground," especially in such a high-risk and offensive manner, appears to be something new, and is likely a sign of President Trump's more aggressive war on islamic extremism.
