(WASHINGTON, DC) – The Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen announced a joint military operation against Al-Qaeda in Yemen. Participants include the Yemeni government forces and Saudi and Emirati special forces. 

The coalition said that the first hours of the operation resulted in the killing a large number of Al-Qaeda militants, who were driven out of Al-Mukalla, the Al-Qaeda stronghold in the country’s south. Militants not killed in the offensive fled the Hadramout provincial capital they had held for a year. Among those killed were a number of al-Qaeda leaders. 

In March 2015, Saudi Arabia responded to an appeal for assistance from Yemeni ‎President Hadi by forming an international coalition and launching military operations in support ‎of the people of Yemen and the legitimate government of Yemen. Saudi Arabia supports all ‎efforts to end the Yemeni crisis.