(Previous Incident Codes: YEM103CUSYEM119)

Local sources reported that an alleged US drone strike had killed four militants, including the brother of an Al Qaeda leader the US had attempted to kill days earlier, in Qaifa near Radaa on September 8th 2012, according to a security official. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.

The security source cited by The Yemen Observer reported that Abdulraouf al Dahab “along with three other [Al Qaeda] members were killed” while al Dahab was driving his car outside Radaa. According to the officer, the attack took place in Almansih area of Qaifa, Al Qaeda’s main stronghold.

Yobserver referred to Abdulraouf as the “brother of Al Qaeda leader” and then went to explain that he is “the actual Al Qaeda leader after his brother, Tariq, was killed in a family dispute in February 2012.” Abdulraouf was reportedly the intended target of the botched strike just days earlier on September 2, 2012 which resulted in the death of at least 11 civilians (USYEM124-C). However, Abdulraouf al Dahab was later reportedly killed during a US special forces raid on September 19, 2017 (USYEMTr006-C). Tweets from @alhayatdaily and @meffleh refer to the killing of the leader of Al Qaeda without specifying who by name.

All of the local sources that reported on the incident attributed the strikes to an American drone.