Yemeni Al Qaeda commander killed in air strike (Lead)

Sana’a, Jan 15 (TF.SF) A top commander of Al Qaeda in Yemen was among six suspected members of the terrorist ,.network who were killed in an air strike on two cars Friday, a senior government official said.

Qassem al-Raimi, the field commander of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was confirmed dead in the airstrike north- east of the capital Sana’a, the official told DPA.Another leading Al Qaeda figure, identified as Ayidh al-Shabwani, was also killed in the raid, said the official who asked not to be named.
He said two militants – Ammar al-Waili and Saleh al-Tays – survived the attack and managed to flee.
Yemen’s Defence Ministry said in a statement the raid took place on the border with Saudi Arabia at around 2.30 pm (1130 GMT).The ministry said a manhunt for the two fugitives was initiated.Al-Raimi, 32, was wanted by Yemeni and US authorities over alleged involvement in terrorist plots against US interests in Yemen.He was also on a list of most wanted terrorist suspects published by Saudi authorities in February 2009.Yemeni authorities say al-Raimi was behind the suicide car bombing that killed eight Spanish tourists in Marib province in 2007.Al-Raimi, alias Abu Huraira, had survived a raid on an Al Qaeda safe house in the south-eastern Yemeni province of Hadhramout in August 2008, in which five Al Qaeda operatives were killed.
He was also the target of a raid on an Al Qaeda camp in the southern Yemeni province of Abyan on Dec 17, 2009, which reportedly was carried out by US cruise missiles.Al-Raimi was among 22 top Al Qaeda operatives who fled an high security intelligence jail in Sana’a in February 2006.The attack underscores the escalation of tensions in the region, with Yemen now in the spotlight as a possible breeding ground for armed Islamist extremism due to its ongoing civil war and proximity to other hotbeds such as Somalia.On Thursday, more than 150 Yemeni clerics threatened to declare jihad (holy war) if any foreign troops entered the Arab country to fight Al Qaeda.