WASHINGTON: US forces on Thursday conducted a series of airstrikes in Yemen against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Pentagon said.
“More than 20 strikes targeted AQAP militants, equipment and infrastructure in the Yemeni governorates of Abyan, Baida and Shabwa,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said in a statement.
“The strikes were conducted in partnership with the government of Yemen, and were coordinated with President (Abed Rabbo Mansour) Hadi.” The strikes come barely a month after a controversial American commando raid against the terrorists that left multiple civilians dead and killed a US Navy SEAL.
The US military did not estimate the number of militants killed in the strikes, but residents and local officials in southern Yemen said that at least nine suspected Al-Qaeda militants died in two separate incidents.
They said four men believed to belong to Al-Qaeda died in a strike on a building in Al-Saeed, an area of Shabwa province home to the Al-Awaleq, the extended clan of Anwar Al-Awlaki, a militant and US citizen killed in by US drone in 2011.
Another five suspected Al-Qaeda fighters died when a missile fired by a drone struck a vehicle carrying weapons while traveling on a road between Al-Wadie and Moujan, according to a local official.
20 US strikes target AQAP, 9 militants dead
20 US strikes target AQAP, 9 militants dead
Israel army issues new evacuation warnings in Lebanon
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on Tuesday, including a warning for residents in two southern Beirut neighborhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of imminent military action.
“Urgent warning to the residents of Lebanon, specifically in the villages which names are shown. For your safety you must evacuate your homes immediately,” said a statement by the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee on Telegram, which listed 50 locations.
Many of the locations were across the south of Lebanon, which Israel regularly targets with the aim of hitting Hezbollah infrastructure.
“You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future,” he told the residents of southern Beirut neighborhoods Ghobeiry and Haret Hreik in another evacuation warning.
Lebanon’s government on Monday took the unprecedented step of banning Hezbollah’s military and security activity, prompting the Iran-backed group to lash out at the decision.
Hezbollah is represented in both the government and parliament, and the move came hours after it announced it had launched rockets and drones toward Israel early Monday to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli attacks.
Israel bombarded Beirut’s southern suburbs and dozens of villages in south Lebanon on Monday in response, vowing to make the group pay a “heavy price.”
The Lebanese health ministry said the strikes killed at least 31 people and wounded at least 149.
