Drone in Yemen kills al Qaeda militants..[ 4042 ]

Drone strike in Yemen kills suspected al Qaeda militants

By Hakim Almasmari, CNN

April 19, 2014 -- Updated 1340 GMT (2140 HKT)

Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- [Breaking news alert, 9:38 a.m.]

The drone strike targeting militants in Yemen on Saturday was aimed at three "well-known" operatives from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula linked to a training camp in southern Yemen, according to a source from the region. Nobody killed in the strike was believed to be among AQAP's senior leadership, the source said.

[Previous story, 8:51 a.m.]

A drone strike in Yemen killed at least 15 people on Saturday, including 12 suspected al Qaeda militants, three Yemeni Defense Ministry officials told CNN.

The strike hit a pickup truck in the al-Hazemiyah district of al-Bayda province, the officials said. The militants were heading to neighboring Shabwa province, a hotbed for al Qaeda, they said. Three of the people killed were senior members of the group, the officials said.

 

Documenting death by drone

 

"The militants were on a coordinating mission and we have had our eyes on them for quite a while now," a senior Defense Ministry official told CNN on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to media.

The Defense Ministry called the attack a successful airstrike. This strike occurred after the recent emergence of a video showing a large gathering of al Qaeda members in Yemen.

Three civilians who were operating a separate car were also killed.

"Our vehicle was 15 meters from the attacked pickup, and the shrapnel from the strike poured on our car. Minutes after the first attack a second attack took place killing three of my friends in process," said Salem al-Kashm, an eyewitness to the airstrike.

"The drone then kept going in circles after the attack to ensure that none of the militants were able to escape," he said.

One of the officials said, "It's unfortunate the civilians were there in the wrong time." Four civilians injured in the drone strike were given immediate medical attention.

The United States is the only country known to have conducted drone strikes in Yemen.

Days earlier, Yemen's Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said that Yemen can handle the al Qaeda threat alone. "Security is one of the main challenges facing Yemen," al-Qirbi said.

Even though more voices have risen within Yemen in opposition to U.S.-led drone strikes, President Abdu Rabu Hadi has shown no sign his counterterrorism strategy will change, especially since al Qaeda proved to be a bigger threat than anticipated.

But his stance has angered parliamentarians.

"It's a black dot for President Hadi to allow drones to roam our skies and kill our people," said Ali al-Mamari, a prominent member of parliament.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also known as AQAP and located in Yemen, is considered the most dangerous al Qaeda affiliate. The CIA and the Pentagon have repeatedly killed AQAP leaders with drone strikes.

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New al Qaeda video signals new round of plotting

The recently released new video shows what looks like the largest and most dangerous gathering of al Qaeda in years.

In the middle of the clip, the man known as al Qaeda's crown prince, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, appears out in the open, greeting followers in Yemen.

Al-Wuhayshi, the No. 2 leader of al Qaeda globally and the head of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has said he wants to attack the United States.

But in the video, he looks unconcerned that he could be hit by an American drone.

In a speech to the group, al-Wuhayshi makes it clear that he's going after the United States, saying "We must eliminate the cross. ... The bearer of the cross is America!"

The video started appearing on jihadist websites recently, drawing the attention of U.S. officials and global terrorism experts.

U.S. officials believe the highly produced video is recent and authentic. With some fighters' faces blurred, there is worry it signals a new round of plotting. Every frame of the video is now being analyzed by the United States.

Many drone strikes have been launched against militants in Yemen over the years. The CIA and the Pentagon either didn't know about it or couldn't get a drone there in time to strike.

"The U.S. intelligence community should be surprised that such a large group of al Qaeda assembled together, including the leadership, and somehow they didn't notice," said Peter Bergen, CNN national security analyst.

"The main problem about this group is that it has a bomb maker who can put bombs onto planes that can't be detected," Bergen said.

That bomb maker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, is believed to be responsible for several attack attempts against the United States, including the failed 2009 Christmas Day underwear bomber attack in Detroit.

Al-Asiri doesn't appear in the video. He remains in hiding, and intelligence experts say he and other AQAP leaders have gone back to using couriers to communicate to avoid detection. That makes it even harder to figure out what al-Wuhayshi may order next.

But the terror group leader's goal is clear, CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said.

"His message to the United States," Cruickshank said, "was very much the same as (former al Qaeda leader Osama) bin Laden's: 'We're coming after you.' "

CNN's Barbara Starr, Yousuf Basil and Joe Sterling contributed to this report