(Previous Incident Code: YEM281)

A US drone strike reportedly killed at least four alleged AQAP militants in Raghwan district, Marib governorate, on October 8th 2017. The strike was later confirmed by a US Central Command spokesperson in an email to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which stated that five AQAP militants were killed by a strike in the area on that day. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.

Several sources, including Associated Press, suggested that, according to local residents and officials, the strike targeted a car near the Saud archaeological area, burning the vehicle and all those inside. Local sources told Al-Masdar Online the same, suggesting that one of those killed was from the Raghwan district.

While most indicated that five were killed in the strike, one Twitter source, @demolinari, suggested that four AQAP militants were killed. According to a Tweet by analyst @JoshuaKoontz, pro-AQAP sources also suggested that four were killed in the strike.

Some sources reported that one of those killed was an AQAP leader in al-Jawf, whom Xinhua named as Mohammed Ammar al-Adani. According to an anonymous provincial security official spoken with by Xinhua, al-Adani had “come from the southern province of Shabwa and had been hiding in a house in Raghwan for more than a month”.