U.S. hits al-Qaida in Yemen, gains intelligence

A U.S. raid on al-Qaida compound in January yielded valuable evidence but also cost the life of one American soldier and left three others wounded.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said the data collected will help American forces “gain a deeper insight into the group’s planning to help prevent terrorist attacks against innocent civilians in the United States and our coalition-partner nations."

During the operation, an Osprey MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft made a hard landing, causing the fatality and injuries of the American servicemen, Davis said. The Osprey was later destroyed by a U.S. airstrike.

Davis said there has been little information from the peninsular area until now.

 “This [operation] was specifically to enable us to gather the information we needed to be able to map out this group better, and to prevent future foreign terrorist attacks,” he said.
 
The raid also killed 14 al-Qaida operatives, Davis said.