Believed to be the first drone strike this year in Yemen, it targeted
the militants' vehicle while they were traveling in Shabwa province, the
tribesmen said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of
security concerns. It was not immediately possible to verify their
account. U.S. officials rarely comment on the covert drone program.
The latest strike comes amid reports of divisions and defections among
al-Qaeda's rival group, the Islamic State affiliate in Yemen, as a
defected group leader gave an online testimony, claiming that IS
fabricated videos to exaggerate their strength and presence.
In testimony posted online by al-Qaeda supporters, a man calling himself
Antar al-Kanadi said he defected from IS because its leadership had
become too extreme. Al-Kanadi's allegations seem to match reports
elsewhere of dissension within the Yemeni IS ranks. According to The
Long War Journal, which monitors militant group activity, more than a
dozen IS leaders and scores of their fighters have rebelled against the
top leader, Abu Bilal al-Harbi, for alleged violations of Islamic
Shariah law.
"Seventy members of the Islamic State's Yemeni branch announced their
'defection' from the Islamic State's wali in a letter published online
on Dec. 15," it said.
Al-Kanadi also alleged that IS in Yemen released two videos of training
camps in Hadramawt province and fraudulently claimed they were elsewhere
in the country.
Yemen has been mired in conflict between Shiite Houthi rebels and an
internationally recognized government backed by a Saudi-led military
coalition. Both IS and al-Qaeda in Yemen have exploited Yemen's chaos
and expanded their reach over the past year.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has long been described by Washington
as the global network's most active and dangerous branch. The IS
affiliate in Yemen has claimed responsibility for a series of bloody
attacks including four suicide bomb attacks on mosques in Sanaa in March
and the assassination of the governor of Aden province.
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