Yemen withdraws permission for US ground operations

Yemen has withdrawn permission for the United States to run Special Operations ground missions against suspected terrorists in the country, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

The NYT report cited American officials who confirmed the move, which comes amid continued fallout over a botched raid on January 29, in which several civilians, including an eight-year-old girl, were killed.

While neither the US nor Yemen has officially announced the measure, the White House on Tuesday continued to insist that the mission was a "success".

"The raid that was conducted in Yemen was an intelligence-gathering raid," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, contradiciting other reports citing US officials that said that the raid aimed to kill al-Qaeda commander Qasim al-Rimi.

"That's what it was. It was highly successful. It achieved the purpose it was going to get, save the loss of life that we suffered and the injuries that occurred," Spicer added.

Yemen, which is currently engulfed in a civil war and plagued by the presence of al-Qaeda and Islamic State group militants, is one of seven Muslim-majority countries targeted by US President Donald Trump's now-suspended 'Muslim ban'.

It is unclear whether Yemen's decision on Wednesday is linked to Trump's inclusion of the country on his blacklist.