Yemen: Airstrike Kills a Top Leader of Al Qaeda

(AP) An airstrike killed Saeed al-Shihri, a top leader of Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen along with six others traveling with him in one car on Monday, American and Yemeni officials said. The leader, a Saudi citizen who fought in Afghanistan and spent six years in the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay before being released in 2007, was killed by a missile after leaving a house in the southern province of Hadramawt, according to Yemeni military officials. They said the missile was probably fired by an American-operated, unmanned drone aircraft. Two senior American officials confirmed Mr. Shihri’s death, but not any American involvement in the airstrike. The United States has used drones to go after Qaeda members and their affiliates in Yemen.