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Yemen conflict: US air strike 'kills many al-Qaeda fighters' Yemen conflict: US air strike 'kills al-Qaeda militants'
(about 2 hours later)
A US air strike has killed dozens of fighters from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in a mountainous region of Yemen, the Pentagon says. 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.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the target was an al-Qaeda training camp that was being used by more than 70 fighters. Another 25 militants were wounded when the camp in Hajr, west of the port city of Mukalla, was bombed on Tuesday.
Tuesday's air strike was the most recent US attack on AQAP in Yemen. The US defence department earlier said it estimated dozens of people had died.
Last year, the US military killed several of the militant group's leaders with drone strikes. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has exploited the current conflict in Yemen to expand the territory under its control.
Since late January 2015, AQAP has lost a number of high-profile figures in US drone strikes - including leader Nasser al-Wuhayshi, religious official Harith al-Nadhari, ideologue and spokesman Ibrahim al-Rubaish along with lower ranking figures. 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.
Mr Cook said the attack demonstrates the US military's "commitment to defeating al-Qaeda and denying it safe haven". Almost 6,300 people, half of them civilians, have been killed in the fighting.
The Pentagon did not disclose the location of the camp. 'Denying AQAP safe haven'
However, Yemeni security officials told the Associated Press that the air strike hit a former military base that had been taken over by al-Qaida militants in the southwest part of the county near AQAP's stronghold city of Mukalla. 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.
In Yemen, resurgent al-Qaeda militants have seized territory and infrastructure - indirectly assisted by Saudi-led air strikes on the rebel Houthi movement, their Shia Muslim foes. 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.
At least 6,000 people have been killed in Yemen since March 2015, when a coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched a military campaign to defeat the Houthis and allied army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and restore the government. "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.
The coalition's member states consider al-Qaeda a terrorist organisation, and the jihadist network's local affiliates have attacked coalition forces and Yemeni government personnel. "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.