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Airwars Assessment
(Previous Incident Code: YEM181 )
A third confirmed US drone strike in eight days killed at least three people. All were AQAP members, according to an AQAP source identified as Abu Turab al Maribi.
This is the second reported US drone strike since gunmen from the Houthi faction ousted the president, prime minister and cabinet on January 26. There were two drone strikes in Yemen after this point, according to unnamed US officials.
Al Maribi told local newspaper the Yemen Times Saif al Humaiqani, “a commander in charge of a group of 40 fighters,” was among the dead. Al Baida’s security chief, Colonel Najem al Din Harash, confirmed the details of the strike.
Other sources said four or six people died in the strike on a moving vehicle – reportedly a pick-up truck.
The strike reportedly hit a vehicle. A tribal source speculated there could have been weapons or explosives inside the vehicle as “loud explosions were heard after the attack”. Yemeni officials said the drone fired two missiles at the vehicle.