Today Yemeni security authorities released information on one of the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) members killed in the April 2 terrorist attack on the military facility in Aden. Initial reports had said that at least three terrorists died in a shootout during the assault, which involved a suicide car bombing followed by attackers in a separate vehicle. The latest-named attacker is the fourth of 10 slain AQAP militants involved in the attack to have been identified by Yemeni authorities.
Last week, the Yemeni Ministry of Defense released information on three of the slain AQAP militants on its official website. The ministry identified two of them as locals from Aden: Rami Salah Sa’id al Khadr, 28, and Fahmi Ali Awwad Mansour, 24. The third man was a local of Ta’iz province, Nasser Ali Nasser al Faqih.
The fourth militant, Hussein Nasser al Diyani, who was named today, was reportedly already wanted by Yemeni authorities for his involvement in criminal and terrorist activities. Yemeni security officials claimed that he had gone into hiding eight months ago, apparently not notifying his family of his departure. They also reported that al Diyani had written a will before carrying out the attack in Aden, a practice commonly undertaken by suicide attackers.
AQAP released a statement last week taking credit for the attack and stating that the militant group killed 50 Yemeni soldiers, a claim categorically denied by Yemeni military officials, who put the figure at eight soldiers. The Yemeni soldiers killed in last week’s attacks were buried on Saturday after a funeral procession led by the Yemeni military chief of staff, Ahmad Ali al Ashwal.
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