Less than a week after President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi expressed his unconditional support of drone strikes as a valuable tool against terror, officials confirmed that a US-led drone strike targeted on Tuesday a vehicle believed to be linked to well-known terror militants.
The strike took place in the southern province of Abyan, a region which back in 2011 fell under the control of al-Qaeda. It took the government six months in 2012 for its military to expulse terror operatives out of Jaar and Zinjibar, cities in Abyan which were declared Islamic Caliphates by Ansar al-Shariah, an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Yemen.
Even though the government has since then partnered with local tribesmen organized under Popular Committees to prevent terror insurgents from staging a comeback to the restive province, ongoing political instability and a breakdown in security has meant that al-Qaeda operatives have grown bolder, putting once again the entire of Yemen’ southern region in jeopardy. Only Sunday, al-Qaeda militants ambushed pro-government tribesmen in a stretch of road northeast of Zinijibar in between Lauder and Moudia.
Local residents have said to be concerned over the possibility of more drone strikes in the area as the authorities will attempt to run terror militants out of the province, thus increasing the likeliness of civilian casualties.
Tuesday strike occurred in Mahfad. Officials have yet to confirm how many militants were killed in the strike
Activists in Yemen have warned they will continue to campaign against drones as they feel they pose a too greater threat to civilians.