Update 2-Drone kills al-Qaeda members east Yemen

*Locals identified one al-Qaeda member (last three paragraphs)

A U.S. drone strike attacked suspected al-Qaeda members in Marib province an hour ago, a security source said.

The drone strike attacked four al-Qaeda members while they were driving in al-Wadi district of Marib province at around 8pm, an officer at Marib’s Investigation Department said.

“We can’t identify their identities,” said the investigation officer, “as they [corpses] are all charred.”

He said that the car belongs to an al-Qaeda member called al-Aqili and that among the other three al-Qaeda members was Abdullah Oraidan. “All [four members killed] are al-Qaeda members but the one the drone aimed targeting was Oraidan,” the investigation officer said.

A tribal sheikh, also a local official, from Abeeda district said that locals identified one of the four killed to be al-Aqili. “The one identified by locals,” said the tribal sheikh, “was Sanad Abdulla al-Aqili.
He explained that Oraidan, identified above by the security source as another of al-Qaeda member, was just another of al-Aqili’s names.

Following the drone strike, suspected al-Qaeda members riding a car took the corpses and ran away, said the sheikh quoting locals as saying.

Al-Aqili’s brother, said the sheikh, was killed three months ago fighting alongside al-Qaeda members in Abyan province. The sheikh said no news yet about the death of al-Qaeda leader, Nasser al-Wuhayshi.

Related Content

•  http://www.yemenobserver.com
•  http://www.yemenobserver.com
•  http://www.yemenobserver.com
•  http://www.yemenobserver.com
•  http://www.yemenobserver.com
•  http://www.yemenobserver.com
•  http://www.yemenobserver.com
•  Offensive against militants drives US drone campaign, tribes claim
•  Family to hand over militants should drone campaign cease
•  Government says Al Qaeda deputy amir dead, experts skeptical