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Yemen confirms top Qaeda
chiefs’ deaths, arrests three militants
SANAA — Yemen confirmed
yesterday the deaths of six senior Al Qaeda figures in an air strike a
day earlier, while continuing its crackdown on the group by arresting
three suspected militants. In a statement on its website, the interior
ministry said Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) military boss
Qassem al Rimi died when a missile struck his vehicle in the eastern
part of Saada province. Also killed were Ayed al Shabwani, Ammar al
Waili, Saleh al Tais, Egyptian Ibrahim Mohammed Saleh al Banna and an
unidentified sixth person.
Late on Friday, after initially having said Waili and Tais had been
killed, a senior official said they had escaped. The ministry did not
comment on the fate of the remaining two people targeted. Rimi was among
23 people who had made a daring escape from a state security prison in
Sanaa in February 2006. Banna, also known as Abu Aymen al Masri, was
said to be an “ideologist” of the group. Meanwhile, the defence ministry
announced the arrest yesterday of three suspected Al Qaeda members in
the northern area of Alb, near the border with Saudi Arabia.
It identified them as Ahmed al Razehi, Yasser al Zubai and Ahmed al
Heemi. It said they were disguised in military fatigues and carried arms
and explosives. Yesterday’s arrests were the latest in a series of blows
since late December, when Yemen’s government launched its latest
campaign against Al Qaeda. On Tuesday, security forces killed Abdullah
Mehdar, said to be the group’s kingpin in Shabwa province, east of the
capital. Provincial Governor Ali Hassan al Ahmadi said dozens of
fighters were hiding in Shabwa. — AFP |
