Pentagon: US airstrike kills senior al-Qaeda leader in Yemen

A US airstrike in Yemen has killed a senior al-Qaeda leader, the Pentagon said Friday.

The strike that took place on January 8 in the central Baida province killed al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s killed Abd al-Ghani al-Rasas, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.

“This strike removes an AQAP senior leader and facilitator in the area and will disrupt AQAP’s terrorism operations in Yemen and the region,” he said in a statement.

"This operation is an example of the US government and our allies' commitment to the people and the government of Yemen to detect, deter, disrupt and defeat violent extremists who threaten progress in the region, as well as threaten to conduct terrorist attacks against innocent people in the region and around the world," Cook added.

AQAP and the Islamic State group have exploited a power vacuum created by a conflict between the government and Houthi rebels, in order to expand their presence in Yemen, especially in the south and southeast.

Al-Qaeda has long been the dominant militant force in Yemen, located next to oil-flush Saudi Arabia and key shipping lanes, but experts say IS is seeking to supplant its extremist rival.

Washington regards al-Qaeda's Yemen-based branch as its most dangerous and has kept up a long-running drone war against its commanders.

US operations against AQAP in Yemen are separate from a Saudi-led coalition campaign against the Houthis, although the United States is providing logistical and other forms of support to the Arab coalition.