New US drone strike kills top Al-Qaeda commander in Yemen
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Sulaiman
- . March 7, 2023
- . Update: March 7, 2023 5:00 pm
A senior leader of Al-Qaeda and another member of the Al-Qaeda’s branch were killed by a suspected U.S. drone strike in central Yemen on February 26, according to Al-Qaida’s arm in the Arabian Peninsula.
The group said in a statement on Monday that the suspected U.S. drone strike targeted Hamad bin Hamoud Al-Tamimi, also known as Abdel Aziz Al-Adnani, the group’s media chief, at his home in the central Marib province, the capital city of Marib Governorate in Yemen, on February 26.
The group announced the news in a five-page obituary. Reportedly, another al-Qaida member was also killed on February 26. Reportedly, the attack targeted a house where al-Tamimi was living in the Wadi Ubaydah area in Yemen.
According to militant sources, Hamad bin Hamoud Al-Tamimi spent nearly four years in prison in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 2013, he travelled to Yemen. He was the head of AQAP’s leadership council.
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Al-Qaida group in the Arabian Peninsula is also known by its acronym AQAP. The group has a strong presence in Yemen. AQAP is one of the more dangerous branches of the al-Qaida terror network. According to the United Nations, the group has thousands of members.
Al-Tamimi’s death was the second major loss for the group. In January this year, a suspected US drone strike killed three Al-Qaeda operatives, including Hussein Hadboul, also known as the “flying Ginsu” or “knife bomb”.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States did not comment on anything on the latest suspected US drone strike.
Yemen has been struggling due to the war that began in 2014. The Houthis seized Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. In 2015, the Saudi-led coalition intervened to restore Yemen’s internationally recognised government to power. The war between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition affected the stability in Yemen.
