As Yemen steps up its pursuit of al-Qaeda militants across Yemen as part of a more aggressive counter-terror policy, military sources confirmed on Tuesday that a US-led drone strike took down on Monday several alleged terror operatives in the central province of Marib, an area believed to be infested with al-Qaeda.
Local tribesmen told reporters on the ground that three rockets were fired at a vehicle believed to be driven by Ebad al-Shabwani, an identified terror target, as he was traveling through the restive province. Officials have so far refused to confirm the identity of the target or to confirm how many people were in the car at the time of the attack, arguing the matter was an issue of national security.
Monday’ strike was the third drone attack in less than a month.
AFP quoted a tribal source as saying that four terror militants were killed in Monday drone strike. “Two missiles struck two vehicles late Monday in the Wadi Abida area, east of Sanaa, killing the occupants who were all Al-Qaeda members … Obad Mubarak al-Shabwani and Jaafar al-Shabwani, both local chiefs of Al-Qaeda, were among the passengers,” the source said.
While President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi has purposely ignored activists and parliamentarian calls to suspend Yemen drone program after a wedding convoy was mistakenly targeted, killing 16 civilians, Washington, one of Yemen’ staunchest supporter, has argued that drone remain the most effective weapon to date against terror.