In Yemen, a Counterterrorism Challenge

After years of a tortuous relationship with Ali Abdullah Saleh, the strongman who was president of Yemen for more than two decades, Obama administration officials hoped to bolster the credibility at home of Mr. Saleh’s successor, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, seen as critical to the American fight against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

But the administration continues to have trouble with those efforts.

Now, the news that a United States Special Operations commando and a Central Intelligence Agency officer shot and killed two armed Yemeni civilians who tried to kidnap them has put Mr. Hadi and his government, which has been cooperating with American counterterrorism efforts in Yemen, in the center of a storm of resentment among Yemenis who have complained about their government’s collaboration with American drone strikes.

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This year alone, the United States has carried out 11 airstrikes in Yemen, according to The Long War Journal, a website that tracks drone strikes.

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