Washington: The Pentagon has poured nearly $70 million (Dh257 million) in military aid to Yemen this year, a massive financial infusion aimed at eliminating the expanding Al Qaida safe havens in that country.
Thirty four believed-to-be Al Qaida operatives were killed in an airstrike yesterday, following a secretive US airstrike last week.
Much like the effort with Pakistan's Frontier Corps, the US military has boosted its counterterrorism training for Yemeni forces, and is providing more intelligence, which probably includes surveillance by unmanned drones, according to US officials and analysts.
The training sessions are generally small scale events that last a few weeks, and the number of military trainers in the country has fluctuated over time, said a senior defence official. The official said the counterterrorism training has varied from ground combat to air and maritime instruction.
"The US presence is certainly growing there," Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen expert at Princeton University, who regularly visits the country, said. He said it was particularly evident at the US embassy there, when he was last in the country during the summer.
More support
That increase, along with the recent strike that reportedly killed civilians as well as Al Qaida members, may only result in more support for Al Qaida in Yemen and stir up anti-government factions, he said.
"In the end it's probably counterproductive," Johnsen said, adding that video and photos of dead women and children from the blast "is a recruiting field day for Al Qaida."
US officials will not publicly confirm participation in last week's strike, and will only offer broad comments about US activities in Yemen.
"We continue to provide advice, training and equipment to both Saudi Arabia and Yemen as part of our ongoing security cooperation," State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley said.
Others, however, acknowledge US involvement in the bombing, and say that the US is providing increased logistic and surveillance support to Yemen in its campaign to stamp out the resurgent Al Qaida militancy in the vast ungoverned spaces.
The operation is the culmination of a strategy shift that occurred about a year ago, when the US determined that the two key centres in the fight against Al Qaida are Yemen, located on the southern tip of the Saudi Arabian peninsula, and Pakistan, a military official with direct knowledge of the strategy said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, because of the secretive nature of the operations, said the support comes at the request of Yemen.
Denied
Crowley flatly denied suggestions that the US is getting involved in Yemen's internal war with Shiite Al Houthi rebels in the north, saying, "We have no direct role in what's happening along the border."
Saudi Arabia launched an air and ground offensive in the north against the Yemeni rebels on November 5, after skirmishes along the border.
Many believe that conflict has evolved into a clash between US ally Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, who Yemen accuses of backing the rebels.
The Shiite rebels charge that the Yemeni government is allied with hardline Sunnis. Tehran has denied any involvement.
Critical talk
The heightened attention comes at a politically sensitive time, as the US and Yemen continue talks on the possible transfer of Yemeni detainees in the Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba back to their homeland. The transfer is critical to President Barack Obama's pledge to shut down Guantanamo, but US leaders are not convinced that Yemen is prepared to handle the detainees, or that they won't simply be set free.
Information about any spike in US involvement, including last week's strike that missed a key Al Qaida leader but killed others, is closely guarded by Yemeni authorities, who fear that a visible American role in the country will fuel internal conflicts.
