Leading Al-Qaeda official assassinated in Ma’rib

Leading Al-Qaeda official assassinated in Ma’rib

A leading figure in al-Qaeda was killed on Thursday in the city of Ma’rib, eastern Yemen.

Southern media, quoting tribal sources, reported that unknown persons targeted the car of Wahhabi leader Salah al-Ibbi.

Pictures circulated by activists showed great damage to al-Ibbi’s car, which was targeted with an explosive device.

Al-Ibbi is suspected of being behind the liquidation of ISIS leader in the region Abu Khaled al-Qurashi, as part of an ongoing conflict between the two organisations. ISIS itself has denied having any connection with the murder of al-Ibbi, however.

The operation indicates the growing conflict between extremist groups in Ma’rib, under pressure to hand over their resources to the authority of the Riyadh-formed Presidential Council of mercenary figures.