Yemini armed forces claim to have killed Said al-Shehri, the second-in-command of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The Ministry of Defence website said, Shehri was a Saudi national who was killed, along with six other militants, in an army operation in the remote Hadramout province in eastern Yemen.It gave no more details.

The United States has used unmanned drones to target AQAP, which has planned attacks on international targets including airliners and is described by Washington as the most dangerous wing of al Qaeda.