Five members of the extremist group Al Qaeda were killed in an airstrike in southern Yemen, Yemeni security sources said today, accusing the United States of carrying out the strikes.
US authorities did not immediately react to the announcement.
"Five al-Qaeda members were eliminated in a US strike" on Friday evening, a security source said in Abyan province, neighboring Aden, the seat of Yemen's internationally recognized government.
Another source confirmed that five people were killed in a US strike north of Kabar al-Marrakesh, a mountainous area known to be home to al-Qaeda members.
The source said it was possible that one of the group's local bosses was among the victims.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), once considered the most dangerous branch of the extremist network by the US, emerged from the chaos caused by the conflict that has pitted Yemen's Saudi-backed government against Iran-backed Houthi rebels since 2014.
In early May, the US, mediated by Oman, concluded a ceasefire agreement with the Houthis, ending US strikes carried out in retaliation for rebel attacks on ships off Yemen.
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