Al-Qaeda commander killed in US strike on Yemen

The Al-Qaeda group in Yemen has announced that a top Saudi leader in the organisation has been killed by a US air strike, according to a statement distributed by the group  online.

                                                                                         

The group said in a statement on Tuesday that Ibrahim al-Rubaish was killed in a drone attack two days earlier.

The group did not specify where the purported strike took place.

Al-Rubaish had a $5m bounty on his head.

The death of al-Rubaish may be a sign that a covert US drone programme against Yemen’s branch of the armed group continues despite the evacuation of American military advisors from the country amid a worsening civil war.

Yemeni and US officials had no immediate comment on the claim.