US Drone strikes in Yemen, killing 30 as air attacks continue
A US drone strike Wednesday on a house and car in Yemen’s restive southeastern Shabwa province killed nine people, believed to be al Qaeda militants, a tribal source said. Separate raids on al-Qaeda in Yemen have reportedly tallied 30 total dead, an official said, as the jihadists came under new pressure a day after losing two key strongholds.
“A US drone struck a house where al Qaeda militants were meeting, and a car nearby,” in the town of Azzan in Shabwa province, a tribal source said on condition of anonymity, saying “nine people were killed in the explosions.”
Yahoo reports that the Al-Qaeda fighters fleeing the southern region of Abyan where the army scored its first major victory against the jihadists on Tuesday, retaking the town of Jaar and the provincial capital Zinjibar, more than a year after they fell under militant control.
“Thirty terrorists were killed and dozens of others were wounded in two air strikes” in the mostly lawless southeastern province of Shabwa, General Ahmed al-Maqdashi, the region’s commander, said in a statement published on the defence ministry website.
“Al Qaeda is still resisting and there are battles in and around the city,” where many of al Qaeda’s leadership is known to be hiding, the official said on condition of anonymity.
He said the army has “surrounded the town from three sides.”
In Azzan, a resident said dozens of people “have fled” since the early morning drone strike.
“The explosions were very strong … they shook the whole town,” said the resident who spoke on condition of anonymity.