Al-Qaeda supporters in Yemen.

A senior al Qaeda official wanted by the United States and a local leader of the militant group’s affiliate, Ansar al-Sharia, were killed in a drone strike in central Yemen overnight, tribal sources said on Wednesday.

Nabil al-Dahab, leader of Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen’s al-Bayda province, was killed along with four other al Qaeda members, including Shawki al-Badani, the sources said. Badani is a leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who is wanted by the United States.

The U.S. State Department has designated Badani as a “global terrorist,” saying he was linked to at least two plots against the U.S. embassy in Sanaa and a 2012 suicide bombing in the Yemeni capital that killed more than 100 soldiers.

A June 17, 2014, posting on the State Department website says the Yemeni government had offered a $100,000 reward for information about Badani. It also reports Yemeni authorities describing him as one of “the most dangerous terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda.”

The United States acknowledges using drones in Yemen but does not comment publicly on the practice. Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda and its affiliates in Yemen are among the most active wings of the network founded by Osama bin Laden.

U.S. drone strikes killed at least 10 suspected al Qaeda militants on Tuesday in central Yemen, where fighting between members of Ansar al-Sharia and rebel Shiite Muslim Houthi fighters also killed 10 people, tribesmen said.

Fighting has flared in different parts of Yemen since the Houthis rose to dominance in recent months, threatening the fragile stability of a country that borders Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter.

Houthi forces took over Sanaa in September and fanned out into central and western Yemen. That antagonised Sunni tribesmen and al-Qaeda militants, who regard the Houthis as heretics.

 
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