Yemeni war planes struck at the house and farm of a Yemen-based al Qaeda leader today in the latest action in a government offensive against the militants, a security official said.
Yemen declared war on al-Qaeda last week as pressure mounted on it to crackdown on the global militant group after its Yemen-based wing said it was behind an attempt on December 25th to bomb a US-bound passenger plane.
"The home of the terrorist Ayed al-Shabwani was targeted in an air raid today, but until now there are no details on the result of the raid," a Yemeni official told Reuters.
It was not known if Shabwani was in the house in Maarib province east of Sanaa at the time.
Shabwani was one of six al-Qaeda militants the government had previously said died in an air strike last week. Al-Qaeda later denied any of its members had been killed.
Western powers and neighbouring Saudi Arabia worry Yemen could turn into a failed state and fear al-Qaeda could exploit the ensuing chaos to strengthen its foothold in the poorest Arab country and turn it into a launch pad for further attacks.
Yemen, hunting al Qaeda in several provinces, is also fighting a northern Shia insurgency and faces separatist sentiment in the south.
Yemen has occasionally been hasty in announcing the deaths of militants. The death of another militant, Anwar al-Awlaki, whom Yemen reported last month might have been killed in an air strike, was never confirmed.
Reuters
