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Yemen AQAP leader al-Wuhayshi killed in US drone strike | Yemen AQAP leader al-Wuhayshi killed in US drone strike |
(34 minutes later) | |
Al-Qaeda has confirmed that the leader of its offshoot in the Arabian Peninsula, Nasser al-Wuhayshi, has been killed in a US drone strike in Yemen. | Al-Qaeda has confirmed that the leader of its offshoot in the Arabian Peninsula, Nasser al-Wuhayshi, has been killed in a US drone strike in Yemen. |
His death was announced by the AQAP group in an online video, in which it said two other fighters had also died. | |
Al-Wuhayshi was seen as al-Qaeda's second-in-command and was a former private secretary to Osama Bin Laden. | |
His successor was named in the video as military chief Qasim al-Raymi. | |
The Yemeni news group al-Masdar Online has previously reported (in Arabic) that al-Wuhayshi was killed in an attack in Hadramawt province last Friday. | |
"We in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula mourn to our Muslim nation... that Abu Baseer Nasser bin Abdul Karim al-Wuhayshi, God rest his soul, passed away in an American strike which targeted him along with two of his mujahideen brothers, may God rest their souls," Khaled Batarfi, a senior member of the group, was quoted as saying on the video. | |
The Pentagon said it would not comment. | The Pentagon said it would not comment. |
The Site intelligence group previously said that if the death were confirmed it would be the biggest strike on al-Qaeda since Bin Laden's death in Pakistani in 2011. | The Site intelligence group previously said that if the death were confirmed it would be the biggest strike on al-Qaeda since Bin Laden's death in Pakistani in 2011. |
The US State Department offered a $10m (£6.4m) reward for anyone who could help bring al-Wuhayshi to justice. | The US State Department offered a $10m (£6.4m) reward for anyone who could help bring al-Wuhayshi to justice. |
It said he was "responsible for approving targets, recruiting new members, allocating resources to training and attack planning, and tasking others to carry out attacks". | It said he was "responsible for approving targets, recruiting new members, allocating resources to training and attack planning, and tasking others to carry out attacks". |
He became head of AQAP when the Yemeni and Saudi branches of al-Qaeda merged in 2009. | He became head of AQAP when the Yemeni and Saudi branches of al-Qaeda merged in 2009. |