DHAKA: A US air strike in Yemen last month killed the senior Al-Qaeda official who appeared in a video claiming the deadly January attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo.

A monitor said Thursday, The Straits Times publishes this report on Friday.

Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi, who was killed in the April strike along with his eldest son and other fighters in the port city of Mukalla, also appeared in Al-Qaeda videos claiming the capture and death of US hostage Luke Somers, SITE Intelligence Group said.

The announcement of his death came in a video posted Thursday on Twitter by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which Washington considers the international terror network’s deadliest branch.

The air raid appears to have been carried out overnight on April 21-22, when witnesses in Mukalla said an apparent US drone strike on a vehicle parked near the presidential palace in the city killed six suspected Al-Qaeda militants.

BDST: 0354 HRS, MAY 08, 2015
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