After evacuating military personnel in March 2015, the US has re-entered the ground war in Yemen by deploying a small team of troops to support the Gulf ally's offensive targeting the al-Qaeda affiliate.
The US ground forces are supported by Navy ships positioned offshore, including the assault ship USS Boxer, destroyers USS Gravely and USS Gonzalez, as well as quick-response Marines with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) seized al-Mukalla last year amid the expanding Yemeni civil war. Late last month Yemeni and Emirati troops launched an operation to oust the violent extremist group from the coastal town.
"AQAP remains a significant security threat to the United States and to our regional partners and we welcome this effort to specifically remove AQAP from Mukalla and to degrade, disrupt and destroy AQAP in Yemen," Davis said.
The Pentagon also stated that the US has conducted four airstrikes against the extremist group, independent of the UAE's Al Mukalla push, since April 23, in which 10 al-Qaeda members have been killed and one injured.
