Under expanded authority granted by President Trump shortly after he took office, U.S. commanders have taken the gloves off in the fight against al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, a terrorist group known by its initials AQAP.
With the Islamic State on the ropes in Iraq and Syria, many U.S. counterterrorism officials now see the al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen as the more immediate threat to the U.S. homeland.
"We strongly believe that AQAP remains intent on attacking the West," a senior defense official involved in counterterrorism told reporters at the Pentagon recently.
"AQAP is constantly near the top when we rack and stack threats to the homeland from terrorist groups."
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