Senior al-Qaida operative killed in U.S. drone strike in Yemen

A senior al-Qaida official wanted by the United States and a local leader of the militant group’s affiliate, Ansar al-Sharia, were killed in a drone strike in central Yemen overnight, tribal sources said on Wednesday. Nabil al-Dahab, leader of Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen’s al-Bayda province, was killed along with four other al-Qaida members, including Shawki al-Badani, the sources said. Badani is a leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula who is wanted by the United States. The U.S. State Department has designated Badani as a “global terrorist” and said he was linked to at least two plots against the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa and a 2012 suicide bombing in the Yemeni capital that killed more than 100 soldiers.

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