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US drone air strike kills al-Qaida terrorist wanted for USS Cole bombing US air strike kills top al-Qaida leader in Yemen
(about 14 hours later)
An al-Qaida terrorist on the run over the bombing in 2000 of the USS Cole warship has been killed by an American drone in Yemen. Yemeni officials say a US air strike has killed a top al-Qaida leader on the FBI's most-wanted list for his role in the 2000 bombing of the warship USS Cole.
US officials have confirmed earlier reports by local officials and the terror network, saying the CIA carried out the mission after a surveillance operation by the agency and US military, with authorisation by the Yemeni government. Fahd al-Quso was hit by a missile on Sunday as he stepped out of his vehicle, along with another al-Qaida operative, in the southern Shabwa province, Yemeni military officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with military regulations.
Fahd al-Quso was one of two al-Qaida operatives died after an aircraft fired a missile into the Wadi Rafad valley in the country's southern Shabwa province, Yemeni military officials said. The drone strike that killed Quso was carried out by the CIA after an extended joint surveillance operation with the US military, two American officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
A statement from al-Qaida read: "Al-Qaida affirms the martyrdom of the Fahd al-Quso in an American attack this afternoon in Rafad." The strike was authorised by the Yemeni government, which made the announcement after the operation was complete, the officials said, as part of the US strategy to give the host government more public ownership of the operation carried out on Yemeni soil.
It is believed that the second alleged terrorist killed in the incident was Fahed Salem al-Akdam. The air strike came as the US and Yemen co-operate against al-Qaida in southern Yemen.
Al-Quso, 37, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2004 over his role in the bombing of USS Cole, an attack that took the lives of 17 American soldiers, but he escaped from a Yemeni prison the following year. He was on the FBI's most wanted list, with a $5m reward for information leading to his capture. Quso, 37, was on the FBI's most-wanted list, with a $5m (£3.1m) reward for information leading to his capture. He was indicted in the US for his role in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in the harbour of Aden, Yemen, which killed 17 American sailors and injured 39.
It is believed that he and al-Akdam were killed as they were travelling through the Wadi Rafad valley. Quso served more than five years in a Yemeni prison for his role in the attack and was released in 2007. He briefly escaped in 2003 but later turned himself in to serve the rest of his sentence.
In 2009, Yemeni government officials reported that al-Quso was killed in an airstrike in Rafd, but he resurfaced. Al-Quso, who was known for his ability to move in disguise, studied ultraconservative Salafi Islam as a teenager in northern Yemen, then returned home to learn welding. A text message claiming to be from al-Qaida's media arm confirmed Quso was killed in the strike.
A Yemeni sovernment website said a third al-Qaida operative had been arrested in Aden along with another man. Quso was also one of the most senior al-Qaida leaders publicly linked to the 2009 Christmas airliner attack. He allegedly met the suspected Nigerian bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, in Yemen before he left to make his failed attack over Detroit with a bomb concealed in his underwear.
Yemen's branch of al-Qaida, which has plotted abortive overseas attacks from the country, has been a major worry for the US. In December 2010, Quso was designated a global terrorist by the US state department, an indication that his role in al-Qaida's Yemen offshoot, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, had grown more prominent.
Washington has engaged in an assassination campaign against alleged members of the group using drone and missile strikes. The Yemeni official Abu Bakr bin Farid and the Yemeni embassy in Washington confirmed Quso was killed in Rafd, a remote mountain valley in Shabwa. It is the area where many al-Qaida leaders are believed to have taken cover, including the US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a US air strike in Yemen last year.
The White House has additionally called on Yemen's new president – who took office after a year of mass protests against his predecessor – to unify the armed forces and use them to fight the militant Islamist group. Yemeni government officials reported that Quso and Awlaki were killed in an air strike in 2009 in Rafd, but they both turned out to be alive. Quso was known for his ability to move in disguise. He was from the same tribe as Awlaki, and local tribesmen said he was a close aide. He studied ultra-conservative Salafi Islam as a teenager in northern Yemen, then returned home to learn welding.
During the uprising, a group linked to al-Qaida seized chunks of territory in south Yemen, killing about 100 Yemeni troops in a single attack in March last year. Yemen's government has been waging an offensive on al-Qaida militants, who have taken advantage of the country's political turmoil over the last year to expand their hold in the south.
The use of drones by the US has been controversial in Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan, where Washington is also fighting al-Qaida-linked groups. The Yemeni president has promised improved co-operation with the US to combat the militants. On Saturday, he said the fight against al-Qaida was in its early stages.
Figures from the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism show that CIA drones stuck Pakistan 75 times in 2011, causing up to 655 fatalities. Quso's association with al-Qaida dated back more than a decade, when he met Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Bin Laden allegedly told him to "eliminate the infidels from the Arabian Peninsula". From there he rose through the ranks. He was assigned in Aden to videotape the suicide bombing of the USS Cole, but he fell asleep.
The majority of those killed were alleged militants, but as many as 126 civilians may also have lost their lives, the bureau's figures suggest. Despite the lapse, the local leader, Nasser al-Wahishi, declared him the regional leader in Aden. He was believed to have played a prominent role in al-Qaida's attack and capture last year of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province. Government troops are trying to drive al-Qaida out of Zinjibar.
Despite the heightened risk to civilian residents, the US looks set to increase its reliance on un-manned drones as part of new defence strategy based on a slimmed down military.
Earlier on Sunday, a Yemeni official said two Belgian nationals of Arab descent could be deported after being detained last month on suspicion of involvement in militant activities.
Ebrahim Bali and Ezzeddine Tuhairi were detained on 13 April at Sanaa's airport as they tried to enter the country.
"They were arrested on suspicion of planned terrorist activities in Yemen. We are in a process of negotiation with the Belgian government. We expect them to be deported … within days," the official said.
A Belgian foreign ministry spokesman confirmed the two men were being held over suspected involvement in "terrorist" activity, and said Brussels was seeking consular access to them.