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As many as 34 suspected al-Qaeda fighters have been killed in a dawn air raid by Yemeni forces in the eastern Yemeni province of Shabwa, according to reports citing security sources.
The raid, launched early on Thursday morning, appeared to target two senior members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula.
The AFP news agency quoted a security source as saying: "The raid was carried out as dozens of members of al-Qaeda were meeting in Wadi Rafadh."
The remote mountainous region lies about 650km east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
Nasser al-Whaychi, the head of al-Qaeda in the Arabic Peninsula, was thought to have been present at the meeting but it as not known if he was killed in the raid.
Unconfirmed deaths
Initial reports said that two other al-Qaeda commanders, identified by security sources as Saad al-Fathani and Mohammad Ahmed Saleh al-Oumir, were among those killed.
But there was no official confirmation that any the men had been killed in the raid.
Al-Oumir is thought to have been the man who spoke at a rally in Abyane, a rare public appearance by an al-Qaeda leader, footage of which was obtained by Al Jazeera.
Thursday's attack comes a week after the raid on Abyane, which prompted the rally at which al-Oumir appeared and which allegedly killed dozens of civilians as well as al-Qaeda fighters.
PHOTO CAPTION
Men claiming to be Al-Qaeda members are seen addressing a crowd in Yemen's southern province of Abyan, on December 22.
Al-Jazeera
