AQAP top leader might have been killed in the US drone attack

By Nasser Arrabyee,30/03/2012

Four Al Qaeda operatives were killed in a US drone attack on a vehicle moving between two Al Qaeda strongholds in the southern province of Shabwa, said sources in AlQaeda-controlled  hospital late Friday.

"Only four dead bodies arrived here the hospital of Azzan, " the sources said.
" It is very difficult who these bodies are, they are very black."

Other sources said the top leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAQ), Nasser Al Wahaishi, and Saad Bin Atef, and a Syrian expert on making bombs and explosives, were among those who were in the car.  

Meanwhile, armed tribesmen loyal to the Islamist party, Islah, are preparing to control the international airport of the Yemeni capital Sana'a, said local sources Friday.

The militants of Islah, in cooperation with Al Qaeda fighters    in Arhab area, about 30 km north of Sanaa,started early Friday  to attack the 63 brigade (republican guards) with heavy, medium and small size weapons, said the local source from Arhab,

Four armed vehicles  with dozens of militants are positioning now in the area of Asda,about 500 meters away from the 63 brigade, in addition to  similar other positions from two directions of  Assama  mountain which overlooks the airport, the sources said.

Arhab is known as a safe haven for Al Qaeda activities since 2007.  Mohammed Al Hanek, middle level Al Qaeda leader, was killed earlier this month in Zinjubar, Al Qaeda-declared Islamic Emirate, in the southern province of Abyan.

The tribal leader Mansour Al Hanek, leader of the Islamist party, Islah in Arhab, is the commander of the attacking militants. 

Two relatives of Mansour Al Hanek were killed in different special operations against Al Qaeda in Arhab over the last few years. 

The cleric Abdul Majid Al Zandani,  accused by US and UN of supporting global terrorism, is originally from Arhab, and where has been hiding since March last year.

The sources also said that fighters in Arhab are not only from the local people but also they are coming from Mareb, Al Jawf, Shabwa and other areas in Sanaa province like Nehm.

Earlier this week, an official report submitted to the Parliament warned from the activity of sleeping cells  of Al Qaeda in Arhab and Aden and Lahj.

A total of 1150 soldiers were killed and 4350 others injured in different operations  against army and security implemented by Al Qaeda and militants of Islah since January 2011, according to official reports.

Al Qaeda kills two tribesmen 

Two tribesmen were shot dead by gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda fighters in the southern city of Aden, said eyewitnesses Friday.

Khaled Jamal Mohammed Ashal, Abdullah Ahmed Nasser Ashal were killed immediately after they finished the Friday sermons in Shaikh Othman area, in Aden city, the witnesses said.

The two  dead men were working as bodyguards with the vice chairman of the Islamist party in Abyan province, Mohammed Hussein Ashal, brother of the member of parliament Ali Hussein Ashal.

Ashal family has been in conflict with Al Qaeda militants for about two years  .
Ashal mobilized tribesmen from Mudia and Lawdar in Abyan province to fight what they always call " Saleh-made" Al Qaeda, in a reference to the former president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh.  

The family of Ashal, majority of them in the Islamist party Islah, always argue that there is no Al Qaeda in Yemen, and it is only Saleh  who makes it to use it as a scarecrow to get money from the west.

Al Qaeda, a  real  and increasing threat in Yemen, expanded a lot during the last year's protests.