SANAA, Yemen, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Yemeni security forces killed an al-Qaida leader and detained four others during military raids in the central province of Shabwa, officials said Wednesday.
The Yemeni Interior Ministry announced it killed al-Qaida leader Abdullah al-Mehdhar during a raid on his home in the Maif'ah district of Shabwa, the official Saba news agency reports.
Yemen launched a military crackdown on al-Qaida militants in Shabwa and Abyan provinces, considered strongholds of the terrorist cabal. As many as three al-Qaida militants were killed in military operations last week.
Ali Hasan al-Ahmadi, the governor of Shabwa province, told London's pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat this week that pro-al-Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and Fahd al-Qasa, the No. 3 on the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, are hiding out in the mountainous regions of his province.
Yemen surfaced as an emerging front in the international fight against al-Qaida following a failed Christmas Day plot to blow up a U.S. passenger jet. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemeni branch of al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the plot.
Apart from the al-Qaida threat, Yemen is dealing with a Shiite rebellion in the northern provinces along the border with Saudi Arabia and a secessionist movement in the south.
Washington said it was increasing its military aid to Yemen in the face of emerging threats, though the government in Sanaa said it would handle security in its own way.
