Unmanned US strike aircraft killed five Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in a pair of strikes in a province in southern Yemen known to serve as a haven for the terror group.
The first strike targeted a vehicle as it was traveling in the city of Azzan in Shabwa province. Four AQAP fighters were killed and three were "critically wounded," Yemeni officials told The Associated Press. Reuters reported that five AQAP fighters and one civilian were killed.
The vehicle is said to have been transporting senior AQAP leaders who had left a mosque in Azzan after Friday prayers, but the identity of those killed has not been disclosed.
In the second strike, the unmanned Predators or Reapers fired missiles at a building in Azzan that is thought to be used by AQAP. Four civilians were said to have been wounded in the strike.
Azzan is one of several cities and towns in southern Yemen that are under the control of AQAP and its political front, Ansar al Shariah. AQAP took control of Azzan in early June 2011, after seizing Zinjibar, the provincial capital of neighboring Abyan province. The cities of Al Koud, Ja'ar, and Shaqra are currently run by AQAP. The terror group also seized control of Rada'a in Al Baydah in January but later withdrew after negotiating a peace agreement with the local government.
Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/03/us_drone_strikes_kil.php#ixzz1qeGF2VQa
------
AQAP top leader might have been killed in the US drone attack
By Nasser Arrabyee,30/03/2012
Four Al Qaeda operatives were killed in a US drone attack on a vehicle
moving between two Al Qaeda strongholds in the southern province of
Shabwa, said sources in AlQaeda-controlled hospital late Friday.
"Only four dead bodies arrived here the hospital of Azzan, " the sources said.
" It is very difficult who these bodies are, they are very black."
Other sources said the top leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAQ), Nasser Al Wahaishi, and Saad Bin Atef, and a Syrian expert on making bombs and explosives, were among those who were in the car.
Meanwhile, armed tribesmen loyal to the Islamist party, Islah, are preparing to control the international airport of the Yemeni capital Sana'a, said local sources Friday.
The militants of Islah, in cooperation with Al Qaeda fighters in Arhab area, about 30 km north of Sanaa,started early Friday to attack the 63 brigade (republican guards) with heavy, medium and small size weapons, said the local source from Arhab,
Four armed vehicles with dozens of militants are positioning now in the area of Asda,about 500 meters away from the 63 brigade, in addition to similar other positions from two directions of Assama mountain which overlooks the airport, the sources said.
"Only four dead bodies arrived here the hospital of Azzan, " the sources said.
" It is very difficult who these bodies are, they are very black."
Other sources said the top leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAQ), Nasser Al Wahaishi, and Saad Bin Atef, and a Syrian expert on making bombs and explosives, were among those who were in the car.
Meanwhile, armed tribesmen loyal to the Islamist party, Islah, are preparing to control the international airport of the Yemeni capital Sana'a, said local sources Friday.
The militants of Islah, in cooperation with Al Qaeda fighters in Arhab area, about 30 km north of Sanaa,started early Friday to attack the 63 brigade (republican guards) with heavy, medium and small size weapons, said the local source from Arhab,
Four armed vehicles with dozens of militants are positioning now in the area of Asda,about 500 meters away from the 63 brigade, in addition to similar other positions from two directions of Assama mountain which overlooks the airport, the sources said.
Washington Time
Kabul Time
London Time
0 comments:
Post a Comment