A Yemeni source reported to ” ” that an American drone launched an attack on the As-Saeed District south of the city of Ataq, the capital of Shabwa Governorate, resulting in the death of two Al-Qaeda members. One of them was Mohammed Khamis Arfaj, the son of the organization’s leader, Khamis bin Arfaj, who was killed in a similar strike in late 2019. The source added that the strike was preceded by surveillance flights of American drones over the Shabwa and neighboring Marib governorates.
The airstrike comes about four months after an American drone targeted five Al-Qaeda leaders in May, including Abu Al-Atta Al-Sanani, Hassan Al-Sanani, and Abu Mohammed Al-Baidani, in a raid on the organization’s stronghold in Abyan Governorate, southern Yemen. The attack resulted in deaths and injuries among their ranks, as a Yemeni source told “Sputnik” at the time.
Prior to that, prominent Al-Qaeda leader Abu Mohammed Al-Hudhali Al-Makki (Saudi nationality) was killed on February 12 in an airstrike on the Al-Maseenah area in the As-Saeed District of Shabwa Governorate. This occurred days after similar attacks resulted in the deaths of prominent leaders Ayoub Al-Lahji and Abu Ali Al-Daisi in the same governorate, according to a source in the local authority.
On January 16, an Al-Qaeda member named Abu Saleh Al-Duwaili was killed in an airstrike on the organization’s stronghold in the Khora area in the Lower Merkhah District, northwest of Shabwa Governorate.
Al-Qaeda exploits the ongoing conflict between the Yemeni government and the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) over the past ten years to expand its influence and presence in various regions of Yemen, targeting Yemeni army and security forces, often resulting in casualties among their ranks.
Yemen has been suffering for the past ten years due to the conflict between the internationally recognized government and the Ansar Allah group, which has led to a humanitarian crisis described by the United Nations as one of the worst in the world.
Since September 2014, the Ansar Allah group has controlled most of the central and northern governorates of Yemen, including the capital, Sana’a. In response, a Saudi-led Arab coalition launched military operations on March 26, 2015, to support the Yemeni army in reclaiming these areas from the group.
