U.S. pulling out last troops from Yemen

by Jesse Byrnes - 03/21/15 11:27 AM ET

The U.S. is evacuating around 100 military members from the Al Anad airbase in Yemen, the last remaining American troops in the country, due to deteriorating security conditions there, CNN first reported.

The withdrawal came as the country’s Shiite rebels issued calls to fight those loyal to Hadi, according to the Associated Press.

The military deployed a number of troops equipped for combat in 2012 to defend U.S. citizens and property in Yemen, a country once touted as a model of the Obama administration’s counterterrorism strategy.

{mosads}The State Department closed its embassy in Sanaa last month amid escalating violence in the country after Houthi rebels seized the capital and ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Yemen is the home of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terrorist organization believed to represent the most potent threat to the U.S. among remaining al Qaeda affiliates.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) suggested earlier this year that President Obama send more U.S. special operations soldiers to Yemen.

On Friday, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) purportedly claimed responsibility for a pair of suicide bombings that left 137 dead in Sanaa, which would represent its first large-scale attack there if true.

The White House has denied a link to ISIS, and national security council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan urged all parties to end their unilateral military action.

Tags Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Dianne Feinstein John McCain Middle East Yemen