operations against AQAP, liberating Mukalla in 36 hours. The operation was hailed by US Defence Secretary James Mattis as a model of fighting terrorism. Mukalla was then used as a base of operations by the UAE Armed Forces and Joint Special Operations Command, allowing the CIA to target AQAP strongest cells in Yemen. 2018 In August 2018, Al Jazeera reported that the Saudi Arabian-led coalition "battling Houthi rebels secured secret deals with al-Qaeda in Yemen and recruited hundreds of the group's fighters. ... Key figures in the deal-making said the United States was aware of the arrangements and held off on drone attacks against the armed group, which was created by Osama bin Laden in 1988." According to the Associated Press, the Saudi-led coalition "cut secret deals with al-Qaida fighters, paying some to leave key cities and towns and letting others retreat with weapons, equipment and wads of looted cash... hundreds more were recruited to join the coalition itself." 2019 On 7 April 2019, UAE and Security Belt forces launched a large anti-terror military campaign to clear a number of mountains and valleys located in the Mahfad town, then a key hideout of AQAP militants. UAE-backed Yemeni security forces succeeded in seizing arms and ammunition, including hand grenades, improvised explosive devices and communication equipment and AQAP militants fled to other areas. On 30 August 2019, UAE airstrikes on AQAP in southern Yemen targeted a number of moving vehicles carrying AQAP members. In September 2019, AQAP took advantage and deployed across Abyan and Shabwa in southern Yemen following the UAE draw down from Yemen and increased infighting between Houthis and Hadi forces. According to a local Yemeni official, the absence of the Shabwani elite security units, that had been trained and equipped by the UAE, enabled AQAP to gain a foothold in the turbulent Shabwa province again. 2020 On January 31, 2020, The New York Times reported three U.S. officials "expressed confidence" that Qasim al-Raymi, the emir of AQAP, was killed in Yemen. For years al-Raymi eluded U.S. forces as he led what experts sometimes refer to as al-Qaida's “most dangerous franchise.” The former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Mick Mulroy said, if confirmed, his death would be “very significant”. This was not the first time the United States has tried to get al-Raymi. He was the target of a January 29, 2017, special operations raid in which Navy SEAL William