Thirty-four suspected al-Qaeda members were killed in an air raid launched at dawn Thursday by the Yemeni army against a meeting place of the terror group in Shabwa province east of Sanaa, a security official said.
"The raid was carried out as dozens of members of al-Qaeda were meeting in Wadi Rafadh," a remote mountainous region some 650 kilometers (400 miles) east of the Yemeni capital, said the official who asked not to be identified.
The head of Qaeda in the Arabic Peninsula, Nasser al-Whaychi, was present at the meeting, the official said, adding that "members of the group including Saad al-Fathani and Mohammad Ahmed Saleh al-Oumir were among those killed."
The source was unable to say what had happened to Whaychi, but he indicated that Oumir was the person who had recently made a public appearance at a meeting in Abyane threatening in a video to launch more attacks against government interests.
A Yemeni official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said that those attending the meeting "planned to launch terrorist attacks against economic installations in Yemen, in retaliation for Yemeni strikes launched last week."
A December 17 Yemeni air strike on one of the group’s training camps in Abyan province killed 34 Qaeda members, according to the Yemeni government.
A local official and a tribal source said that 49 civilians, including 23 women and 17 children, were among those killed in that strike.
On the same day, four members of Qaeda were killed in Abhar, about 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) north of Sanaa, in what the authorities presented as preventative operations against Qaeda members planning attacks.
Thursday’s strike brings the Yemeni government’s tally of Qaeda members killed over the last eight days to 68.
More than 30 Qaeda members have been arrested since the December 17 strike, the Yemeni defense ministry said.
The New York Times reported that U.S. President Barack Obama approved firepower, intelligence and other support for Yemen’s efforts against Qaeda.
Yemen, Qaeda leader Osama bin Ladin’s ancestral homeland, has witnessed a number of attacks in recent years against targets including diplomatic missions, oil installations and foreign tourists.