Nassir al-Wuhayshi, leader of al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula has been reported killed in a drone strike in Yemen. Nassir al-Wuhayshi spent many years as a top aide to Osama bin Laden.
Reports have emerged that Nassir al-Wahishi - the second in command of terror network al Qaeda worldwide behind Ayman al-Zawahri and himself leader of the Yemen-based al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) – was killed in a suspected drone strike in the country's south-east.
The strike took place on Friday in the Hadramawt region, according to broadcaster CNN on Monday citing two Yemeni national security officials, and local sources close to al Qaeda quoted by the news agency dpa. A source in the coastal city of Mukalla told dpa the strike happened there.
Supporters of AQAP were posting mourning notices on social networking platform Twitter.
Unconfirmed reports
United States authorities have not confirmed the report or commented on any possible US involvement. AQAP itself did not immediately make a statement.
If al-Wuhayshi has indeed been killed it would be a major blow to AQAP, one of the most active branches of the international terror group al Qaeda which claimed responsibility for the January attack on Paris-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
According to Gregory Johnsen, who wrote a book on AQAP, al-Wuhayshi was born in Yemen and spent years in Afghanistan from the late 1990s, serving as an aide to Osama bin Laden until 2001 when US troops closed in on al Qaeda following the September 11 attacks. According to Johnsen, al-Wuhayshi was a key figure in building up the organization in Yemen.
The reports come shortly after peace talks opened in Switzerland where Yemen's warring factions have been called upon to agree to a humanitarian pause. A Saudi-led coalition has been bombing the country since March in an effort to stop Houthi rebels, who had taken over large swathes of the country.
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