Trump Travel Ban Update: Yemen Stops US Military Anti-Terror Troops From Fighting

Yemen has halted the United States from conducting Special Operations ground missions against suspected terrorist groups in the country. Senior officials told the New York Times, that the Yemeni ban does not include military drone attacks and also does not affect the American military advisers that are aiding Yemenis and forces from the United Arab Emirates. Besides the loss of a helicopter worth $75 million and the death of several civilians including children, the loss from the "botched" raid, which the White House has repeatedly characterized as a success, also included a member of the Navy's SEAL Team 6, Chief Petty Officer William Owens. Among those killed in the raid conducted on Jan. 29, also includes the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni-American al-Qaida leader who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011. Despite the warnings of several top ex-senior officials including a former CIA and NSA director, who had said that Trump's travel ban could endanger troops and hurt national security, it is still unknown at the time if the Yemeni ban is a form of retribution towards the Trump executive order that disallowed refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries including–Yemen (before being temporarily revoked).