Yemeni FM: “DNA analyses pinpointed Algerian identity of Al Qaeda members killed in Yemen”

Yemen’s foreign minister, Dr Abubakr Al Karbi, has said that the Yemeni authorities have no precise statistics about the number of Algerians who have joined the Al Qaeda terror organization based in Yemen.

He however asserted that the Yemeni security forces have of late dealt severe blows to the terrorist groups with the killing of numerous Al Qaeda members in several counter-attacks in various parts of Yemen notably in Abyan southern province.

Al Karbi added that DNA analyses had allowed the Yemeni security services to ascertain the Algerian identity of several extremists killed during the anti-Al Qaeda offensive launched by Yemeni troops with an air support in several regions of the country.

Weekend drone strikes in Yemen killed more than 40 suspected Al Qaeda members, including 30 on Sunday.

The United States is the only country that operates drones in Yemen, and President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has defended their use despite criticism from rights groups who deplore civilian casualties.

On Sunday, US drones fired “several missiles” into a training camp run by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in the rugged Wadi Ghadina region in the southern province of Abyan, a tribal chief said.

“More than 30 members of Al Qaeda were killed and many others wounded,” near Al-Mahfad town, he said.

Abyan lies next to Shabwa province, another region of Yemen where Al Qaeda terrorists are entrenched.

Witnesses also said a US drone carried out the attack and that most of the wounded were evacuated by members of the extremist network.

A statement on the defence ministry’s website said the attack on Al Qaeda ‘training camps’ killed ‘several’ Al Qaeda members of various nationalities including Algerians.

An official statement on Saba said the dead were “dangerous elements” who had been plotting to carry out “attacks on vital installations and on politicians and military personnel” in Baida.

The statement said the suspects were also responsible for the murder of Baida’s deputy governor on April 15.