Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Yemeni security sources said the U.S. military has killed a key fighter
of Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

The sources identified the dead commander as Fahd Al Quso, killed in a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle strike on May 6.

“The attack took place in a location targeted by the United States in
the past,” a security source said.

The sources said Al Quso, 37, was deemed a leading fugitive of AQAP. The attack killed Al Quso and two other Al Qaida fighters in the southern province of Shabwa.

Al Qusso, on the FBI’s most wanted list, was said to have been linked to the suicide bombing of the U.S. Navy’s USS Cole in 2000, in which 17 sailors were killed. Washington did not confirm the attack, also reported by the Yemeni embassy in the United States. Al Qaida issued a statement that confirmed the killing.

The latest Predator strike took place under a new U.S. policy to expand
UAV operations in Yemen. Under the policy, the approval process for UAV
strikes was shortened from days to hours and expanded Al Qaida targets.

Hours later, AQAP struck a military installation in the Abyan province.

Security sources said at least 20 Yemeni soldiers were killed and 25 others
were abducted.

  Abyan province, Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, Drone strike kills Al Qaida leader wanted in USS Cole attack, Fahd Al Quso, on FBI’s most wanted list, Predator drone