Four Al-Qaeda fighters killed in US drone strike

Four members of Al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch, including a local commander, were killed in a suspected US drone strike on a vehicle travelling east of the capital Sana’a, two local officials said today.

The attack occurred in Marib province, controlled by forces loyal to exiled President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, late last night. A local commander of the militant Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), known as Abu Khaled Al-Sana’ani, was killed along with three associates, the officials said.

It was the second drone strike in two days to target a local commander of the militant group regarded by US officials as one of the most dangerous branches of Al-Qaeda active in the world today.

On Thursday, a drone strike on a vehicle in Al-Bayda province in central Yemen killed a senior AQAP leader known as Abdallah Al-Sana’ani, identified as a regional commander of the group.

The United States has been using drones to target the militant organisation which has exploited Yemen’s civil war to carve out a foothold in the impoverished country. Several leaders of the group have been killed by drone strikes in recent years.

AQAP have played a significant destabilising role in the Yemeni conflict, attacking not only pro-Iran Houthi Shia militias but also government forces. Early last year, and in a rare foray into international militancy, AQAP also claimed responsibility for the attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris, that claimed the lives of 12 people.