Drone Strike 'Kills Yemen Al-Qaeda Officials'
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A senior al-Qaeda official wanted by the United States, and a local leader of the armed group's affiliate, Ansar al-Sharia, were killed in a drone strike in central Yemen overnight.
Shawki al-Badani, who was a leader of al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula and designated a "global terrorist" by the US, was one of four armed group members killed, along with Nabil al-Dahab, leader of Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen's al-Bayda province, tribal sources said on Wednesday.
The US State Department says Badani was linked to at least two plots against the US embassy in Sana'a and a 2012 suicide bombing in the Yemeni capital that killed more than 100 soldiers.
A June 17, 2014, posting on the State Department website says the Yemeni government had offered a $100,000 reward for information about Badani. It also reports Yemeni authorities describing him as one of "the most dangerous terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda".
Al Jazeera's Omar al-Saleh, reporting from the capital Sana'a, said "while the killing of the two is a big blow to the al-Qaeda network, I'm not sure the group is weakened by it, since the network's structure is not dependent on individuals. The network certainly has replacement for its leaders in case they are targeted by the US, or even Yemeni army."
The US acknowledges using drones in Yemen but does not comment publicly on the practise. Al-Qaeda and its affiliates in Yemen are among the most active wings of the network founded by Osama bin Laden.