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Yemen conflict: US air strike 'kills al-Qaeda militants' | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
At least 40 militants have been killed in a US air strike on an al-Qaeda training camp in south-eastern Yemen, local officials and medics say. | |
Another 25 militants were wounded when the camp in Hajr, west of the port city of Mukalla, was bombed on Tuesday. | |
The US defence department earlier said it estimated dozens of people had died. | |
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has exploited the current conflict in Yemen to expand the territory under its control. | |
Over the past year, the Houthi rebel movement and military units loyal to the former president have been battling a US-backed, Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally-recognised government. | |
Almost 6,300 people, half of them civilians, have been killed in the fighting. | |
'Denying AQAP safe haven' | |
The US has continued its campaign of drone and missile strikes against AQAP throughout the conflict, resulting in the deaths of a number of senior figures, including the group's leader Nasser al-Wuhayshi in June and its combat operations chief Jalal Baleedi last month. | |
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the training camp targeted on Tuesday was located in a mountainous area and was being used by more than 70 militants. | |
"We continue to assess the results of the operation, but our initial assessment is that dozens of AQAP fighters have been removed from the battlefield," he added. | |
"This strike deals a blow to AQAP's ability to use Yemen as a base for attacks that threaten US persons, and it demonstrates our commitment to defeating al-Qaeda and denying it safe haven." | |
Mr Cook gave no further details about the attack, but Yemeni security officials and witnesses told the Associated Press that it hit a former military base about 75km (47 miles) west of Mukalla, which AQAP seized along with most of the surrounding province of Hadramawt last year. | |
Medics and a local official told the Reuters news agency that as many 50 militants had been killed in the attack, while a tribesman told AP that at least 40 had died. | |
"The planes struck as al-Qaeda people stood in line to receive their dinner," the local official said. | |
Tribal sources told the AFP news agency that wounded militants were taken to a hospital in Mukalla, and residents of the city reported seeing dozens of militants rushing to the facility to give blood. | |
The US considers AQAP as one of the deadliest offshoots of the jihadist network founded by Osama bin Laden. The group attempted to bomb a US-bound airliner in 2009 and claimed responsibility for the attack on the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris last year that left 12 people dead. |