One of Al Qaeda's top military strategists in Yemen was reportedly killed Friday along with five other militants in airstrikes targeting two vehicles in the country's northeastern mountains, according to officials and news agencies.
The operation by the Yemeni air force was the latest in a string of attacks on Al Qaeda strongholds and the terrorist network's key operatives. The government, which has been guided by U.S. intelligence in the past, has yet to capture or kill the group's two leaders, but Friday's strikes were an indication that Al Qaeda faces increasing pressure.
The official Saba news agency reported that Qasim Raymi, believed to be a top Al Qaeda military commander, was killed in an attack in a region between Saada and Jawf provinces. The report could not be independently confirmed but, if true, it would be a blow to Al Qaeda's operations. Raymi, who fought in Afghanistan and escaped from a Yemeni prison in 2006, became one of the principal architects of an alliance of mostly Yemeni and Saudi radicals who built Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
By: Brant
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