Abyan (South24 Center)

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A US airstrike on Saturday morning targeted a leader affiliated with the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Wadi Sari in Ahwar district of Abyan governorate, according to the spokesperson for the Southern Armed Forces, Lt. Col Mohammed Al-Naqib

Al-Naqib told ’South24 Center‘ that information indicates that the US airstrike targeted a leading member of the terrorist organization. 

Meanwhile, a separate military source told ’South24 Center‘ that AQAP leader Salem Qassim was likely killed in a US airstrike in Ahwar district. He added that Qassim had survived an attempt to target him in Mudiyah district last month.

 

Press sources reported that three AQAP members were killed in the US strike.

 

’South24 Center‘ could not verify the exact number.

The strike came two days after an attack by suspected AQAP elements in al-Mahfad district, Abyan governorate, on Thursday (May 22).

According to a statement by the Southern Forces, a soldier affiliated with the forces was lightly wounded during the confrontations and that two explosive devices were seized. AQAP has lost a number of its leaders and operatives in the recent past, in suspected US airstrikes, in Shabwa and Abyan. 

On May 12, the Hadrami Elite Forces carried out a raid in Wadi Araf in Al-Shihr district in Hadramout governorate, targeting suspected AQAP locations, following information about an active cell in the area. 

On May 14, in a pre-emptive operation at a checkpoint, the Shabwa Defense Forces announced the arrest of two senior AQAP leaders who were trying to infiltrate from Abyan to Marib using forged documents.

Since August 2022, the Southern Forces have been conducting continuous operations against the AQAP in Abyan and Shabwa. They have been able to push out the organization from the two governorates.