Yemen: US air strikes kill 24

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Yemen: US air strikes kill 24

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At least 24 killed in alleged attacks by the US forces.

15 October,2011 12:54 pm

Apparent US air strikes killed twenty four militants in southern Yemen, one of them the media chief of the jihadist networks regional affiliate, a local official said on Saturday.The Yemeni defence ministry confirmed the deaths but insisted that Friday evenings strikes in Shabwa province, a militant stronghold east of the main southern city of Aden, were carried out by its own forces.Three strikes, apparently American, which were launched against positions held by Al-Qaeda militants in Azzan, one of the groups bastions, killed seven of them, including the Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Bannaa, the local official said.One of the strikes hit a mosque near the apparent primary target of the strike, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.A number of suspected militants were also wounded and were taken to Azzan hospital, which is under the control of the militants, he added.The Yemeni defence ministry confirmed that Bannaa was among seven suspected Qaeda militants killed, adding that he was wanted internationally for planning attacks both inside and outside Yemen.Bannaa was in charge of the media arm of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and was one of the groups most dangerous operatives, the ministry added.Yemen routinely denies that the United States carries out offensive operations on its territory, insisting that it plays a purely logistic and intelligence role in support of Yemens own counter-terror operations.