U.S. kills al-Qaida operatives in Yemen

SAN'A, Yemen -- The United States has upped the tempo in its war against al-Qaida in Yemen, killing nine of the terror group's militants in the second, high-profile airstrike in as many weeks. The dead in the late Friday night strike included the son of Anwar al-Awlaki, the prominent American-Yemeni militant killed in a Sept. 30 strike.

The successes come even as Yemen falls deeper into turmoil, with President Ali Abdullah Saleh clinging to power in the face of months of massive protests. Yesterday saw the worst bloodshed in weeks in the capital, San'a: At least 18 people were killed when Saleh's troops fired on protesters and clashed with rivals. Witnesses estimated up to 300,000 people joined yesterday's demonstrations, the largest in the capital in several months.

"Everyone with interests in Yemen, including al-Qaida and the Americans, is raising the stakes at this time of uncertainty," said analyst Abdul-Bari Taher. "The Americans are wasting no time to try and eliminate the al-Qaida threat before the militants dig in deeper and cannot be easily dislodged."

Also dead in the Friday airstrike in the southeastern province of Shabwa was Egyptian-born Ibrahim al-Banna, identified by the nation's Defense Ministry as the media chief of the Yemeni branch of al-Qaida.

Tribal elders in the area where Friday's strikes took place said the dead included Abdul-Rahman al-Awlaki, the 21-year-old son of Anwar al-Awlaki.

The tribal elders, who spoke yesterday on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals, said four other members of the al-Awlaki clan and another local militant were also killed. There was no immediate confirmation of the younger al-Awlaki's death from Yemeni authorities.

Security officials said the strike was one of five carried out overnight by American drones on suspected al-Qaida positions in Shabwa and neighboring Abyan province in Yemen's largely lawless south. They said two more militants were killed and 12 wounded in other strikes in the two provinces.

The first strike late Friday targeted a house in the Azan district of Shabwa, security officials and tribal elders said. They said a second strike then targeted two sport utility vehicles.