ADEN, Yemen, A leading al-Qaeda militant was killed, during an anti-terror military operation by Yemen’s armed forces, in the southern province of Lahj on Wednesday, a security official said.
Newly-recruited troops, backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), raided the house of Ahmed Abdul-Nabi, a leading member of the Yemen-based al-Qaeda branch, in a surprise operation, the local security source said.
Abdul-Nabi, wanted by Yemeni authorities over several terror attacks, was immediately killed, after a short gunfight in the raid, the source said.
Two sons of the slain al-Qaeda leader were captured by the troops and moved to neighbouring Aden province, for more investigation, he added.
A government official confirmed that, an intelligence-borne operation in Lahj, ended in the killing of Abdul-Nabi, after he refused to surrender himself to the armed forces.
Yemeni government forces and the UAE armed forces operating in Aden, have launched a new anti-terror military offensive, “to root out al-Qaeda militants from their stronghold in the southern province of Abyan.”
The Yemen-based al-Qaeda branch, seen by the United States as the global terror network’s most dangerous branch, has exploited years of deadly conflict between Yemen’s government and Houthi rebels, to expand its presence, especially in Shabwa and Abyan provinces.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK