Gitmo alum killed in Yemen strike

AFP:
A former Guantanamo Bay inmate was killed in a US air strike in Yemen last week, the Defense Department said Monday, as part of a stepped-up campaign against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

"We can confirm the death of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Yasir al-Silmi," Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.

Silmi had been incarcerated at the notorious US military prison in Cuba in 2002-2009.

The Pentagon did not immediately have additional details on Silmi's case, but Davis said he was not considered a "high-value" target.

Republican lawmakers repeatedly blocked then-president Barack Obama's efforts to shut Guantanamo and pointed to former detainees returning to the fight as proof inmates should remain locked up there.

Silmi died March 2 in the same strike that killed Usayd al-Adnani, a "long-time explosives expert who served as the organization's emir within the Abyan governorate," Davis said.

The United States has conducted more than 40 strikes against AQAP in Yemen since ramping up operations five nights ago.
...
Yemen is becoming a target rich environment for strikes on al-Qaeda jihadis.  While there evidently was not value put on Silmi his death contributes to the attrition of al Qaeda forces in the region.

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