Feel-good story of the day.
ADEN (Reuters) - Two apparent U.S. drone attacks killed at least 16 suspected al Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen on Saturday, while Yemeni government forces killed 15 others in a new offensive against insurgents, local and military officials said.
U.S. officials said this week they had thwarted a plot by the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to arm a suicide bomber with a non-metallic device, an upgraded version of the "underwear bomb" carried onto an airliner on Christmas Day 2009.
AQAP, a regional branch of the militant network, has plotted overseas attacks that have been prevented but raised major concern for Washington, which is trying to wipe out suspected AQAP operatives with drone and missile strikes.
An air strike believed to have been carried out by a U.S. drone set two vehicles on fire, killing seven suspected insurgents in the southeastern province of Shabwa, a local official told Reuters. One of the dead was an Egyptian, he said. Another local security official said six militants were killed.
Hours later, the Defense Ministry said in a text message to reporters that 10 al Qaeda militants had been killed in another air strike in the eastern oil-producing province of Maarib. Yemen and Washington do not acknowledge U.S. drone attacks.
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