{"id":13964,"date":"2017-08-23T19:35:57","date_gmt":"2017-08-23T19:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/23\/us-commander-visits-yemen-border-for-firsthand-look-at-war\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:46:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:46:22","slug":"us-commander-visits-yemen-border-for-firsthand-look-at-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/23\/us-commander-visits-yemen-border-for-firsthand-look-at-war\/","title":{"rendered":"US commander visits Yemen border for firsthand look at war there"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia \u2014 The top U.S. commander for the Middle East got a first-hand look on Wednesday at Saudi Arabia\u2019s military fight against Yemen\u2019s rebels, visiting the border area on the same day the Saudi-led coalition was accused of bombing a hotel and killing civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gen. Joseph Votel\u2019s trip to the Saudi-Yemeni border area comes as the U.S. presses on with a campaign targeting al-Qaida-linked militants in Yemen and tries to determine its level of support for key allies engaged in the impoverished country\u2019s violent civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other close partners of Washington have been fighting Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen for more than two years. While they\u2019ve received American support, they\u2019ve also been heavily criticized for high civilian death tolls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Underscoring the danger to civilians, Votel\u2019s visit to the border area coincided with airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition on a small hotel north of the capital, Sanaa. Dozens of people were reportedly killed, including rebels and civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Votel never crossed into Yemeni territory during the visit, which lasted much of the day, Air Force Col. John Thomas, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the small group traveling with Votel got separated from him at one point and there were other logistical problems, including a vehicle breakdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The objective of Votel\u2019s 600-mile day trip from Riyadh to Saudi Arabia\u2019s southwestern Jizan region was \u201cto develop a better understanding of the Saudi challenges with security the border,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Votel met with Saudi Arabia\u2019s Lt. Gen. Fahd Bin Turki, toured an operations center and met Saudi commanders and troops. It was his first visit to the Yemen border region as head of Central Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media traveling with Votel weren\u2019t allowed to accompany him. Officials cited a lack of seats on the aircraft used to ferry him to the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. has conducted more than 80 airstrikes against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in Yemen this year, in an expanded campaign to target a group the U.S. has long considered one of the most dangerous threats against the American homeland. AQAP has been responsible for a number of attempted attacks in the United States, including multiple plots to blow up U.S. airliners flying over the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After taking office, President Donald Trump authorized a more aggressive approach against AQAP. But only days into his tenure, a ground raid produced the first casualty of his presidency with the death of a U.S. Navy SEAL, Senior Chief William \u201cRyan\u201d Owens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Yemeni tribesman from the Popular Resistance Committees, supporting forces loyal to Yemen’s Saudi-backed President, manoeuvrers a gun mounted on a pick up truck during fighting against Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies on June 30, 2017, in the area of Sirwah, west of Marib city. (Abdullah al-Qadry\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The airstrike campaign against AQAP has been complicated by Yemen\u2019s ongoing civil war. For more than two years, a Saudi-led coalition of Sunni monarchies has been bombing the Iranian-backed, Shiite rebels known as Houthis. The rebels have launched repeated cross-border attacks into Saudi and fired missiles at American and other allied ships off Yemen\u2019s coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the U.S. has repeatedly complained to the Saudis and others about rising civilian casualty tolls from airstrikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And U.S. lawmakers have pressed for investigations into allegations of torture and other human rights abuses of detainees by U.A.E. and Yemeni forces in a network of secret prisons around Yemen. Those abuses were first reported by The Associated Press earlier this year, raising questions about whether American forces working with the Yemenis were aware of torture.<\/p>\n\n\n\t