A US drone strike has killed 7 top officials of the Al Qaeda in Yemen after it blew off a car in the southern province of Shabwa. According to local villagers, the unmanned drone hovered over the area for a few hours before striking a vehicle said to be carrying the members of the terror organization. The al Qaeda branch based in Yemen dubbed Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is considered to be the most radical wing of the terrorist group.
AQAP has flourished in the chaos of the country’s civil war, which pits the government against the Houthi militias. Therefore, the airstrikes are timely as the US feels that while there is a raging way between rebels and government forces, the AQAP has been taking the opportunity to capture strategic locations.
The US military has carried out several airstrikes against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in different provinces of the war-torn Arab country since US President Donald Trump approved expanded military operations against the group. That included intensified overnight airstrikes and ground military raids against the al-Qaeda hideouts in the mountainous areas of al-Bayda and the southeastern province of Shabwa.
