US Drone Strikes Kill Six in Yemen, Including al-Qaeda Official

Slain AQAP Leader Was 'On His Honeymoon'

US drones fired eight missiles into Yemen today, killing six people in Bayda Province, all of them officially dubbed suspects by the Yemeni government, but only three referred to as actual members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Among the slain was Qaeed al-Dhahab, referred to as “a military chief” in AQAP, who reportedly had just gotten married hours earlier and was apparently on his honeymoon at the time of the strike.

Locals in the village of Manasseh, near where the strike hit, say the death of Dhahab had agitated the local AQAP fighters, who had previously had a truce with the village officials, said the truce has now been abandoned.

Dhabab had reportedly been instrumental in negotiating the truce, and had been trying to reach understandings with locals across the Bayda Province, which has seen major fighting off and on but was in a period of relative calm. That calm appears to be over.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.