Top Saudi Al-Qaeda Commander Killed in U.S. Airstrike in Yemen’s Shabwa

A high-ranking Saudi operative within Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was killed Wednesday in a precision U.S. drone strike targeting a militant hideout in Yemen’s southeastern Shabwa province, security sources confirmed.

According to RIA Novosti, citing one of its sources, the leader, identified by the alias Abu Mohammed Al-Hadhli Al-Makki, was killed on Wednesday in a drone strike carried out by the U.S. The strike targeted an Al-Qaeda stronghold in the Al-Masaina area of Al-Saeed district, south of Ataq city, the center of Shabwa province.

The targeting of Al-Makki followed the recent killing of another senior Al-Qaeda figure, Abu Ali Al-Daisi, who served as the emir of Qifa province, in a separate U.S. strike in Shabwa.

These operations come days after the death of another Al-Qaeda member, Abu Youssef Al-Mohammadi, in an explosion caused by a booby-trapped motorcycle in the Al-Samada area of Al-Wadi district, east of Marib city.

The U.S. strikes underscore ongoing efforts to dismantle Al-Qaeda’s network in Yemen, amid escalating counterterrorism operations targeting the group’s leadership and infrastructure.

AQAP, long considered one of the terror group’s most dangerous branches, has exploited Yemen’s decade-long civil war to recruit fighters and plot attacks targeting Western interests.