Seven suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants were killed by two unmanned aerial vehicle strikes in southern Yemen on June 1, a local official said, Reuters reported.
A police officer and a civilian were killed and two police wounded May 25 in a grenade attack on a checkpoint in the southeastern coastal town of al-Shihr in Hadramawt province, a security official and witnesses said, AFP reported.
The military intelligence chief for Yemen's Hadramawt province, Col. Ahmed Abdulrazzaq, was shot and killed April 27 by suspected Islamist militants on a motorbike, a security official said, Reuters reported.
Yemen launched a ground campaign against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's hideouts in Bayda province Jan. 23, Mohammed Albasha, the press and public relations officer at Yemen's embassy in Washington, said on his Twitter page.
With the Yemeni government struggling to maintain power in 2011, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was able to expand and seize portions of southern Yemen. The group is the most active jihadist franchise and has been the most successful in attempted attacks against the U.S. homeland. AQAP's growing ability to use ambushes, roadside improvised explosive devices and sticky bombs as well as its connections to the al Qaeda core indicate the group will likely continue to be a domestic and transnational threat.
