Al Qaida’s second-in-command believed dead

• Image Credit: AP
• This undated frame grab from video shows Saeed Al Shehri, deputy leader of Al Qaida.

Sana’a: Yemeni troops killed the second-in-command of Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), regarded by Washington as the terror network’s deadliest branch, in a raid in the east, the Defence Ministry news website said on Monday.

“The Saudi terrorist Saeed Al Shehri, the second man in Al Qaida, was killed in a quality operation by the armed forces in Hadramaut,” the 26sep.net news website reported.

“Six other terrorist elements accompanying him were also killed,” the website added quoting what it said was a “high-ranking source”, without mentioning when the operation took place.

“[Al] Shehri’s death deals a painful blow to what’s left of the terrorist elements.”