Airstrike kills al-Qaida leader in Yemen

SAN'A, Yemen -- An airstrike killed al-Qaida's No. 2 leader in Yemen along with five others traveling with him in one car yesterday, senior Yemeni Defense Ministry officials reported. Saeed al-Shihri's death deals a major blow to the terror group.

The missile that killed al-Shihri, a Saudi national, was believed to have been fired by a U.S.-operated drone.

U.S. officials said Saeed al-Shihri was killed, but could not confirm any U.S. involvement in the airstrike.

The United States doesn't usually comment on such attacks although it has used drones in the past to go after al-Qaida members in Yemen.

The Yemeni officials were elaborating on a brief Defense Ministry statement sent to Yemeni reporters on their mobile phones.

Al-Shihri's death amounts to a major breakthrough for U.S. efforts to cripple the group in Yemen, which is considered a crucial battleground with the terror network.

The impoverished nation on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula is on the doorstep of Saudi Arabia and fellow oil-producing nations of the Gulf and lies on strategic sea routes leading to the Suez Canal.

Al-Qaida's Yemen branch is seen as the world's most active, planning and carrying out attacks against targets in and outside U.S. territory.

The group took advantage of the political vacuum during unrest inspired by the Arab Spring last year to take control of large swaths of land in the south.

But the Yemeni military has launched a broad U.S.-backed offensive and driven the movement from several towns.

Al-Shihri is the latest in a series of al-Qaida figures killed in drone strikes, including U.S.-born Anwar al-Awlaki, who had been linked to the planning and execution of several attacks targeting U.S. and Western interests, including the attempt to down a Detroit-bound airliner in 2009 and the plot to bomb cargo planes in 2010.