U.S. drones deliver ‘major blow’ in Yemen to Al Qaida command structure

Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — The Al Qaida leadership in Yemen was said to have been
hit hard by U.S. air strikes.

Yemeni sources said up to eight senior operatives of Al Qaida in the
Arabian Peninsula were killed in air strikes in the southern province of
Abyan.

U.S. drone attacks killed at least eight suspected Al Qaida-linked militants in Yemen on May 12, while Yemeni government forces killed 15 others in a new offensive against insurgents, local and military officials said.

The sources said AQAP leaders who were attacked in the provincial city of
Jaar, planned mass-casualty strikes against Yemeni and Western targets.

“This represents a major blow to AQAP’s command structure,” a Yemeni source said.

The sources did not identify the AQAP casualties in air strikes that
began on May 10. They said Yemen and the United States have enhanced intelligence capabilities to detect and monitor Al Qaida commanders.

“The move toward the pursuit of terrorists is irreversible,” Yemeni
President Abbed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said on May 13.

The U.S. military and the CIA have been conducting daily strikes by
combat unmanned aerial vehicles in southern Yemen.

On May 12-13, the Defense
Ministry reported air strikes on suspected AQAP operatives and their
vehicles in Shabwa. In Abyan, the Sanaa regime warned residents to leave
areas controlled by Al Qaida.

“The goal is to restrict the movement of the terrorists until the army
can come and recapture the areas,” the source said.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login