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By AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press
May 28, 2012
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A U.S. drone strike Monday aiming for an al-Qaida
leader has killed five militants in the country's south as part of a Yemeni
offensive against the Islamist group, Yemeni officials said.
They said the airstrike targeted Qaid al-Dahab, a local leader of
al-Qaida, in a convoy of three cars near the town of Radda, 160 kilometers (100
miles) south of the capital, Sanaa. Four militants were wounded. The officials
said al-Dahab's fate was not yet known.
Al-Dahab's sister was the wife of Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S.-born radical
militant cleric killed by a U.S. drone strike last fall.
There was no immediate word from Washington on the latest strike.
On Sunday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta defended drone strikes in
Yemen as a measure "to defend and protect the United States of
America." He was interviewed by the American ABC TV network.
Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula,
is one of the movement's most dangerous offshoots. The U.S. considers the
impoverished country as a key battleground in the war against al-Qaida.
The terror network has had a presence in Yemen for years, but expanded
its influence during last year's political upheaval when millions of Yemenis
rallied across the country demanding the ouster of their longtime ruler, Ali
Abdullah Saleh. The militant group seized control of several towns in the south
during the turmoil.
Earlier this year, al-Dahab's brother, Tariq, led militants who stormed
and briefly occupied Radda, They pulled out after authorities released 15 of
his men from jail. Tariq was later killed in a family feud.
Yemen's army is pushing an offensive to uproot al-Qaida-linked militants
from their strongholds in the south. The U.S. is aiding the operations. Panetta
said its activities "don't necessarily involve boots on the ground,"
according to a transcript of the interview on the ABC website.
In their offensive, Yemeni government troops have retaken most of a
southern provincial capital from al-Qaida fighters.
The officials said Monday that the army holds 90 percent of Zinjibar,
the capital of Abyan province, which fell to al-Qaida last year. They say 48
hours of fierce fighting left 22 militants and nine soldiers dead.
They said the army was advancing toward Jaar, another town in militant
hands for over a year, in a three-pronged attack supported by heavy artillery
shelling and air raids.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military
regulations.
