Two Al Qaeda suspects killed in air strike in Yemen

15/03/2010
Two Al Qaeda suspects at least were killed and several others injured in an air strike implemented by Yemeni fighter jets on a hideout of Al Qaeda in Abyan province south of Yemen, security officials said Monday.
The targeted group were planning to carrying out terrorist operations against strategic and vital installations in the southern provinces of Yemen where oil and gas is produced, said the officials.
The group was hiding in the Jasr area, about 3 km away from the centre of Mudyah district, in Abyan province. The leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Nasser Al Wahayshi, is from this province, Abyan.
The security director of Mudyah, Abdullah Ali Al Salehi, said the place was surrounded after the air strike, which, he said, was implemented after long and accurate surveillance on Al Qaeda movements in the area.
Al Salehi, who went to the site of the operation, declined to identify those who were killed and injured, but he said, they were leaders, and the operation was successful.

This is the second air strike on Al Qaeda in Abyan province after the December 17th, 2009 air strike which killed several AlQaeda members including a local leader. Last December the Yemeni government declared an open war on Al Qaeda which remarkably increased its activity during 2009 in Yemen which faces armed rebellion in the north and separation calls in the south.