US forces kill dozens of Daesh militants in Yemen: Pentagon

U.S. forces killed dozens of Daesh militants in a strike on two of its training camps in Yemen's al Bayda governorate, the Pentagon said on 16 October.

"ISIS used the camps to train militants to conduct terror attacks using AK-47s, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and endurance training," Anadolu quoted Penatgon, as saying in a statement, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, another name for Daesh.

However, the Pentagon did not describe how the strikes were conducted.

Daesh has used ungoverned spaces of Yemen to plot, direct, instigate, supply and recruit for attacks against America and its allies around the world, the statement said.

"In coordination with the government of Yemen, U.S. forces are supporting ongoing counter-terrorism operations in Yemen against ISIS and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula to degrade the groups' ability to coordinate external terror attacks and limit their ability to hold territory seized from the legitimate government of Yemen," it added.

Yemen has been a hub for terrorist recruiting, training and transit for years.

The Yemeni Civil War is an ongoing conflict that began in 2015 between two factions claiming to constitute the Yemeni government, along with their supporters and allies.

According to the UN, from March 2015 to March 2017, 16,200 people have been killed in Yemen, including 10,000 civilians. 

-AN