Top al Qaeda commander killed in Yemen drone strikes: residents
Source: Reuters
A suspected U.S. drone strike overnight killed a top Islamist militant commander in southern Yemen who had run al Qaeda's combat operations and had a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, residents said.
In nine months of civil war and a Gulf military intervention in Yemen, the United States has kept up a drone campaign there against al Qaeda and increasingly, Islamic State militants, who have continued to carry out attacks.
Impoverished Yemen has suffered fierce fighting and humanitarian crisis since March, when a Saudi-led Gulf Arab coalition began near-daily air strikes to rout the Iran-backed Houthis and restore the central government.
Jalal Baleedi was killed by a drone strike as he was traveling in a car with two others in coastal Abyan province.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN0VD0G6
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)Separation
(1,975 posts)Being a "top leader' or "second in command", I couldn't imagine people lining up for this job. I would be like, "No no no, Answar over there has more time in grade, he deserves the promotion!"
Bad Dog
(2,025 posts)From a culture that tries everything to live longer and stave off death. They're not, they embrace the prospect of martyrdom. You may laugh, but they actually believe the shit about 72 virgins.
MariaThinks
(2,495 posts)Marty McGraw
(1,024 posts)of the Day