In what it called "a continuing escalation of America's secret wars," the New York Times, citing US, European and Arab officials, reported that a team of about a dozen US Army Green Beret commandos arrived at the border region last December.
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The US special forces are providing training and helping the Saudi military locate and destroy missile caches and launch sites that Houthi rebels have used to attack cities in the kingdom, the report said. The team is closely coordinating with US intelligence analysts in the Saudi city of Najran to try to locate Houthi missile sites in Yemen, the report added.
Since March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at the request of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. Human rights organizations have criticized the Saudi-led coalition for engaging in indiscriminate bombings during which thousands of civilians have been killed. According to the United Nations, a record 22.million people in Yemen, or 75 percent of the population, remain in need of immediate humanitarian aid.