Posted on 10/15/2011 8:42:04 AM PDT by gandalftb
An American drone strike in southern Yemen has killed seven al-Qaida-linked militants, including the media chief for the group's Yemeni branch, Egyptian-born Ibrahim al-Bana.
Tribal elders in the area also said the dead included Abdul-Rahman al-Awlaki, the 21-year-old son of Anwar al-Awlaki and four other members of the al-Awlaki clan.
The strike was one of five carried out over night by an American drones on suspected al-Qaida positions in Shabwa and the neighboring province of Abyan.
The first strike late Friday targeted a house in the Azan district of Shabwa, but hit just after al-Qaida militants had a meeting in the building.
A second strike targeted two sport utility vehicles in which al-Bana and the six others were traveling.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
There sure have been a lot of drone strikes since Saleh was allowed to re-enter Yemen. I guess that Saudi medical care must have made him feel a bit more cooperative.
Al Bana who was among 28 arrested in Hadramout in 2008 for forming an armed gang. Al Bana and 6 others, without offering a reason, did not show up for trial last year.
Al Bana was an old school associate of Zawahiri since 1993, and took over for Zarqawi, to run AQ in Iraq for a short while.
His loss would be a greater hurt for Zawahiri than the loss of Bin Laden.
Awlaki's first cousin was also killed in the strike.
Yemen is insisting that the night time strikes were carried out by their aircraft. It is reported that two of the five strikes were carried out by manned aircraft. Yemeni aircraft? Yemeni aircraft can fly at night but do not possess night targeting equipment.
BTW, more good news, a drone strike in Pakistan has killed Ahmed Abdel Rahman. He is son of the “Blind Sheik” now serving a life sentence for attempting to blow up New York City landmarks.
Notice no claims of CIVILIAN deaths being reported like when Bush was president
Obozo is like a kid with a new electric train.
That’s just an accidental omission, I’m sure. /s
Is Obama going to apologize to his family?
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