Three U.S. drone strikes in one day Thursday killed a total of 12 suspected al-Qaida militants, a Yemeni military official said, the sixth, seventh and eighth such attacks in less than two weeks as the Arab nation is on high alert against terrorism.
The uptick in drone strikes signals that the Obama administration is stepping up its efforts to target Yemen’s al-Qaida offshoot — al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula or AQAP — amid fears of attacks after the interception of a message between its leader and the global leader of the terror network.
Since July 27, drone attacks have killed 34 suspected militants, according to a count provided by Yemeni security officials.
The Yemeni military official said the first drone attack killed six alleged militants in central Marib province, while the second killed three more in the al-Ayoon area of Hadramawt province in the south. The third drone strike killed three others in the al-Qutn area of Hadramawt. All three airstrikes targeted cars, the official said on condition of anonymity.
The high alert in Yemen came after authorities revealed an al-Qaida plot to target foreign embassies and international shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
The U.S. and Britain evacuated diplomatic staff this week after learning of a threatened attack that prompted Washington to close temporarily 19 diplomatic posts in the Middle East and Africa.
While the United States acknowledges its drone program in Yemen, it does not confirm individual strikes or release information on how many have been carried out.
The program is run by the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command and the CIA, with the military flying its drones out of Djibouti, and the CIA out of a base in Saudi Arabia.
In the capital of Sanaa, a drone buzzed overhead for hours Wednesday and early Thursday, leaving residents anxious about its target and whether al-Qaida militants were about to strike.
Thursday’s first reported drone attack hit a car carrying the suspected militants in the district of Wadi Ubaidah, about 109 miles east of Sanaa.
Badly burned bodies lay beside the vehicle, according to the official. Five of the dead were Yemenis, while the sixth was believed to be of another Arab nationality.
Yemeni authorities said Wednesday they uncovered an al-Qaida plot to target foreign embassies in Sanaa and international shipping in the Red Sea.
A U.S. intelligence official and a Mideast diplomat have said that the embassy closures were triggered by the interception of a secret message between al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri and Nasser al-Wahishi, the leader of the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, about plans for a major attack.
The discovery of the al-Qaida plot prompted the Defense Ministry to step up security around the strategic Bab el-Mandeb waterway, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Officials banning speedboats or fishing vessels from the area, and military forces have been ordered to shoot to kill anybody who arouses suspicion or refuses to identify themselves.
Yemeni troops have stepped up security across Sanaa, with multiple checkpoints set up and tanks and other military vehicles guarding vital institutions. The army has surrounded foreign installations, government offices and the airport with tanks and troops in the capital, as well as the strategic Bab al-Mandeb straits at the entrance to the Red Sea in the southern Arabian Peninsula.
The drone strikes, which became a near-daily morning routine starting July 27, have been concentrated so far in remote mountainous areas and valleys where al-Qaida’s top five leaders are also believed to have sought refuge.
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