US worried about losing Yemeni base for special ops: General

‘The commander of US special military operations is expressing “very great concern” about losing Yemen as a base for US counterterrorism efforts against al-Qaeda affiliates in the Arabian Peninsula.

Army General Joseph Votel, the commander of US Special Operations Command, said Friday that he was concerned about losing a presence on the ground in Yemen, where his forces had previously worked with Yemeni forces against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

“So I think we should be very, very concerned about that,” the four-star general said during an appearance at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank.’

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