(Previous Incident Codes: YEM058USYEM065)

Three Al Qaeda militants were killed by airstrikes allegedly carried out by US and/or Yemeni forces in the Al Jawf governorate on April 29, 2012.

On April 29th, 2012, tweets began appearing from @alshadadi1986, Nabeel Alodainai (@imc_r) and Suhail News concerning the killing of three Al Qaeda operatives in a car moving through the AlJawf governorate. Later, Yemeni military sources stated that three suspected Al Qaeda operatives were killed in an airstrike that targeted their car traveling in the Al Hasm area of the Al Jawf governorate. Mareb Press cited a Yemeni military official speaking on anonymity who confirmed the targeting of the vehicle, but the official did not state whether it was the Yemeni military or U.S. drones that conducted the strike. However, the Yemen Air Force did not have capabilities to strike moving cars.

Additionally, a tribal witness told Mareb Press that the operatives were traveling to visit families of Al Qaeda members killed in armed conflicts with the Yemeni government. This same source added that the car carrying the three men was “completely destroyed”. In a report filed by the Associated Press, an anonymous Yemeni official noted the death of the three men who were allegedly linked with Al Qaeda, but the official could not provide details on their identities, the reasons for their travels in Al -Hasm, or who was responsible for the strike. There are no reports of any civilian deaths.