Qaeda confirms coalition strike killed top leader

A Houthi militant stands guard on the roof of a building overlooking a rally attended by supporters of the Houthi movement in Sanaa, Yemen March 3, 2017.

Casualty figures have been slow to emerge but officials said seven alleged al-Qaeda militants were killed in the strikes on Thursday.

The Pentagon confirmed a new wave of strikes on Friday in Yemen against al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula but a spokesman denied reports that American forces had been engaged in ground combat or conducting raids.

While we talk a lot about ISIS (the Islamic State group), AQAP is the organisation that has more American blood on its hands.

Local media reported intensive US air raids, from drones and warplanes, in Abyan, Shabwa and al-Baidha provinces with several al-Qaeda militants being killed.

Two US defense officials told BuzzFeed News that the strikes had been planned months before the January 29 raid and that it did not appear that intelligence gleaned from last month’s raid was part of the overnight strikes.

A senior Yemeni official described the strikes as “open-ended” and said they raised questions about the objectives of such an operation. She received the longest standing ovation during the speech.

“None of our troops were involved in a firefight over the last period of darkness”, the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. official familiar with the intelligence gathered from the raid told ABC News that information obtained in the January 28 raid included contacts on hundreds of AQAP sympathizers in the Middle East and in the West. “Now we are focused on going after the leadership and the entire network”.

Commanders have said the potential of recovering a trove of new information about the group and its operations justified the risks to the American commandos. No civilian casualties were reported from either of the two strikes, United States officials told CNN.

The US forces reportedly missed their target, AQAP leader Qassim al-Rimi, who they said was hiding in a known al-Qaeda fortress.

“It’s the largest collection of material we have gotten in some time”, said another official.

The Pentagon denied USA involvement in any ground combat and it was unclear if one of the US’s gulf allies might have been engaged in gun battles.

Photos from the scene began circulating hours later amid claims from multiple sources that al-Masri had been killed, but the USA military declined to provide information about the airstrike.

“Stepping up attacks in Yemen delivers the message that the US can fight Islamist groups anywhere and at the same time”, he said.

Friday’s attacks hit similar targets as on Thursday – including weapons caches, fighters and military equipment.