Saudi announces death of two Al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen

Saudi Arabia has announced the deaths of two leaders of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organisation in Yemen during a security raid.

Murad Abdullah Mohammed al-Doubli, nicknamed ‘Abu Hamza al-Batani’, and Hassan Baasreih were killed on Wednesday during a morning raid in Abyan province, state-run Saudi Press Agency said citing security sources.

The sources said the two were killed when security forces clashed with elements of Al-Qaeda in the Al-Battan district of Al-Dawaie in Abyan.

It described the two as “among the most dangerous leaders of al-Qaeda in Yemen”.

A graphic image uploaded by SPA showed two men slumped dead on the ground with gunshot wounds.

The Saudi coalition in Yemen is supporting a sustained campaign by Yemeni forces against Al-Qaeda under efforts to stablise the country.

The group has used the chaos of the Yemen civil war to expand its reach in the south of the country.

An operation in February saw members of the organisation expelled in key outposts in Hadramawt province along the Saudi border.

Al Qaeda had until last year been focussing most of its efforts in Yemen against the Houthi militias the coalition has been fighting since entering the civil war in 2015.

In recent months it has stepped up attacks against Yemeni forces supporting the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.