Yemen: Airstrike targets al-Qaeda training camps

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — An airstrike targeting suspected al-Qaeda training camps in a rugged mountain region in southern Yemen killed a number of fighters Sunday, a high-level government security committee said, without specifying a casualty figure.

CNN reported that the latest in a series of operations targeting al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was underway in Yemen Monday, citing an unnamed "high-level Yemeni government official.''

The official said that the scale of the strikes is "massive and unprecedented" and that at least 30 militants have been killed. The operation involved Yemeni commandos, CNN reported.

The Supreme Security Committee, which includes the defense and interior ministers, as well as the country's intelligence chief, said Sunday's attack struck the rugged Mahfad mountains between Abyan and Shabwa provinces. But its statement did not identify who carried out the attack.

The U.S. regularly carries out drone strikes in Yemen against its local al-Qaeda branch, which Washington considers the most active in the world.

The official news agency SABA quoted an unnamed official from the security committee who said those killed in the strike included foreigners and suspected leading figures in al-Qaeda. It was not possible to independently verify a casualty figure because of the difficulties of getting to the remote area where the strike took place. The committee said the suspected al-Qaeda members were plotting to target vital military and civilian installations, without elaborating.

This is the second strike targeting al-Qaeda since Saturday, when a suspected U.S. drone strike in al-Bayda province in southern Yemen killed at least nine suspected al-Qaeda militants and three civilians. The Supreme Committee said the airstrike was carried by Yemeni authorities.

The conflicting details of Saturday's attack could not be immediately reconciled.

The U.S. considers Yemen's branch of al-Qaeda, also known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to be the most dangerous in the world. The group is blamed for a number of unsuccessful bomb plots aimed at Americans, including an attempt to bring down a U.S.-bound airliner with explosive hidden in the bomber's underwear and a second plot to send mail bombs hidden in the toner cartridges on planes headed to the U.S.

It overran much of Yemen's south in 2011. Yemen's army, supported by U.S. military experts and drone strikes, has pushed them back, but clashes and al-Qaeda attacks in Yemen continue.

However, civilian casualties in the strikes have sparked anger in the country and among human rights groups. According to the nonpartisan public policy institute New America Foundation, the U.S. has launched more than 100 drone strikes in Yemen since 2002.

There was no immediate U.S. comment on the strike. The U.S. will acknowledge drone strikes carried out by its military, but typically not those done in CIA operations.

The recent strikes come after the return of Yemen's defense minister and team of his commanders from the U.S. following a two-week visit.