US drones carried out the second strike in Yemen in three days,
killing eight al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters as they were
traveling in a car in eastern Yemen today.
The unmanned Predators or Reapers fired several missiles at a car as it traveled in the Hawra district in Hadramout province, according to Reuters. The Yemeni Defense Ministry claimed it carried out the strike, but sources told the news agency that US drones fired the missiles.
US military and intelligence officials would not comment on today's strike, but in the past have told The Long War Journal that the Yemeni military is not capable of launching precision strikes on moving vehicles, particularly at nighttime. The time of today's attack was not disclosed.
The exact target of today's strike has not been disclosed; no senior AQAP leaders have been reported killed in the attack. According to The Yemen Post, the fighters "were with their personal guns and explosives and it was believed they had planned to carry out terrorist attacks."
US drones have zeroed in on Hadramout province over the past month. Of the five strikes that have been recorded in August, four have taken place in the eastern province. On Aug. 29, two AQAP fighters, including a Saudi "militant," were reported killed in Hadramout. On Aug. 7, the US carried out two strikes in Yemen. Yemeni officials said that Abdullah Awad al Masri, a wanted bombmaker who is also known as Abou Osama al Maribi, was killed in one of the strikes in Hadramout that also killed two Egyptians, a Tunisian, a Saudi, and a Bahraini. And on Aug. 4, the US conducted another airstrike in Hadramout province.
The unmanned Predators or Reapers fired several missiles at a car as it traveled in the Hawra district in Hadramout province, according to Reuters. The Yemeni Defense Ministry claimed it carried out the strike, but sources told the news agency that US drones fired the missiles.
US military and intelligence officials would not comment on today's strike, but in the past have told The Long War Journal that the Yemeni military is not capable of launching precision strikes on moving vehicles, particularly at nighttime. The time of today's attack was not disclosed.
The exact target of today's strike has not been disclosed; no senior AQAP leaders have been reported killed in the attack. According to The Yemen Post, the fighters "were with their personal guns and explosives and it was believed they had planned to carry out terrorist attacks."
US drones have zeroed in on Hadramout province over the past month. Of the five strikes that have been recorded in August, four have taken place in the eastern province. On Aug. 29, two AQAP fighters, including a Saudi "militant," were reported killed in Hadramout. On Aug. 7, the US carried out two strikes in Yemen. Yemeni officials said that Abdullah Awad al Masri, a wanted bombmaker who is also known as Abou Osama al Maribi, was killed in one of the strikes in Hadramout that also killed two Egyptians, a Tunisian, a Saudi, and a Bahraini. And on Aug. 4, the US conducted another airstrike in Hadramout province.
Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/08/us_drones_strike_aga_2.php#ixzz25AFhDd9I
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