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Al Qaeda executes members for ‘spying’ for US in Yemen

They were accused of planting tracking chips in vehicles and clothes used by Al Qaeda leaders, allowing drones to target them, a local official in southeastern Mukalla said.

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- AFP file photo

Aden — Al Qaeda in Yemen executed Wednesday two Saudi accused of spying for the United States, a day after the terrorist group confirmed the death of its leader in a US drone strike.

They were accused of planting tracking chips in vehicles and clothes used by Al Qaeda leaders, allowing drones to target them, a local official in southeastern Mukalla said.

After their public execution by a firing squad in the Al Qaeda-held city, their bodies were tied to poles, the official and witnesses said.

Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, considered by Washington as the most dangerous affiliate of the global terrorist network, was formed in 2009 following a merger of the Yemeni and Saudi branches.

AQAP confirmed in an online video dated June 15 the death of its leader Nasir Al Wuhayshi, who was number two in Al Qaeda, along with two other militants in a US drone strike last week.

Two other senior Al Qaeda leaders in Yemen — ideologue Ibrahim Al Rubaish and Nasser 
Al Ansi, who appeared in a video claiming the January massacre on French magazine Charlie Hebdo — were killed in similar US strikes in April. 

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