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(Fox News) Security forces in Yemen have killed Said al-Shihri, described as the second-in-command of a regional branch of Al Qaeda, officials say.
Yemen’s Defense Ministry said Shihri, a top militant with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), was a Saudi national who was killed with six other militants in an army operation, Reuters reports.
Shihri is a former inmate of Guantánamo Bay who was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and put through a Saudi rehabilitation program for militants, according to the Guardian.
A Yemeni security source told the paper the operation last Wednesday was thought to have been carried out by a US drone rather than the Yemeni military. The source said another Saudi and an Iraqi national were among the others killed.
Yemeni officials say the missile was believed to have been fired by a U.S.-operated drone. The U.S. doesn't usually comment on such attacks, but has used drones in the past to go after Al Qaeda members in Yemen.
Al Qaeda's Yemen branch is seen as the world's most active, planning and carrying out attacks against targets in and outside U.S. territory.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
