Yemen: U.S. drone strikes kill 11 al Qaeda militants

AP Graphics

(AP) SANAA, Yemen - Two suspected U.S. drone strikes killed 11 al Qaeda militants in southern Yemen on Saturday, Yemeni military officials said.

The first attack took place near the border of Marib and Shabwa provinces southeast of the capital, Sanaa, killing six militants, including one Egyptian national, the officials said. The second strike hit two cars in Marib, killing five al Qaeda-linked fighters.

Over the past year, parts of Marib, Shabwa and other southern provinces have fallen under the control of al Qaeda militants who have capitalized on the turmoil in Yemen that stems from the popular uprising that toppled longtime leader Ali Abdullah Saleh.

There was no immediate word from the U.S. on whether Washington was behind Saturday's attacks. In the past two weeks, suspected U.S. airstrikes have killed at least three senior al Qaeda operatives in southern Yemen.

Yemeni officials have reported more frequent U.S. drone strikes since Yemen's new president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, took power in February after Saleh stepped down. Hadi has since ramped up the fight against al Qaeda militants.

The Pentagon recently sent American military trainers to Yemen, and Washington has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to assist the impoverished Arab nation fight al Qaeda and other extremist groups in the country.

The U.S. says al Qaeda's Yemeni branch, known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is one of the group's most dangerous offshoots.

Yemen was the launching pad for two foiled al Qaeda attacks on U.S. territory: the Christmas 2009 attempt to down an American airliner over Detroit with an underwear bomb and the sending of printer cartridges packed with explosives to Chicago-area synagogues in 2010.

On Monday, The Associated Press disclosed that the CIA thwarted yet another plot by AQAP to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb which could have been undetectable by conventional airport scanners.

Separately, Yemeni military officials said an assault by government troops Saturday on al Qaeda forces around the southern city of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, left a general, a soldier and six militants dead.

The attack was part of the Yemeni military's broader campaign against al Qaeda-linked fighters in the south. Residents say the military used warplanes and artillery to pound areas west and north of Zinjibar.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

[baileycccc]

Eleven more scum bags off the streets. This is a good thing.

[michaelz06]

Just sitting here wondering how many hypocrites cheered this article, while opposing waterboarding, Gitmo, etc?

[notparicular]

Waterboarding experts have no work these days; drone attacks have eliminated their jobs. Romney, if elected, will reappoint them, just to get the job picture brighter. Yemenis may contribute to the Romney superfund.

[SoCal_Gridlock]

Absolutely nothing wrong with 11 more dead al Qaida. Too bad it wasn't 11,000.

If you're keeping score at home, put another 792 virgins in the column marked "al Qaida Martyrs".

But by killing so many of them we are also losing out on any intel we could be getting from them had we captured and waterboarded them. So it's kind of a canundrum (if I spelled that right). Killing them humanely or keeping them alive for the extraction of information using any means necessary.

I wonder if it's considered torture if, after a drone attack, one or more of them take a long time to die. Such as surviving the initial hit but then taking 15-20 minutes to either bleed or burn to death. We should ask Nancy Pelosi or Leslie Stahl that question.

[naksuthin]

This is a win win situation

Obama sends More Al Qaeda leaders to Paradise.

And Americans can enjoy life without them

[1notrub11]

"Two suspected U.S. drone strikes killed 11 al Qaeda militants in southern Yemen on Saturday, Yemeni military officials said."

"There was no immediate word from the U.S. on whether Washington was behind Saturday's attacks."

Gee...."suspected"....."drone"......US involvement. I wonder how many other countries have drone operations in that area of the world? Or have drones for that matter? Who else could be "behind the attacks"? Why not name them, then? Heh.

[1notrub11]

Yeah, sweN, just one though. Suppose they used it in this case?

[train99]

"Suspected drone strikes kill al-Qaeda militants."
Used to be "Drone strikes kill suspected al-Qaeda militants".
Someday, we'll be reading, "Suspected war in Afghanistan..".

[venusvegasvada]

Goodnight losers.