Posted on 04/17/2014 2:49:55 PM PDT by Brad from Tennessee
Media outlets in Australia and New Zealand today reported that two Australian nationals, including one who was a New Zealand citizen as well, were killed in a US predator drone strike in Yemen on Nov. 19. Last year's airstrike took place in Yemen's eastern Hadramout province, a known jihadist haven, and targeted al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters driving in the Ghayl Bawazir area near Mukallah, the provincial capital.
The two Australian nationals killed in the airstrike were identified as Christopher Harvard of Townsville, Australia, and Muslim bin John, a New Zealand dual citizen who reportedly changed his name by deed poll either in Australia or New Zealand. Shortly after the strike, Twitter accounts associated with AQAP eulogized five fighters, named as Abu Habib al Yemeni, Abu Salma al Russi, Abu Suhaib al Australi, Waddah al Hadramawti, and Hammam al Misri. Abu Suhaib al Australi was apparently the alias used by Muslim bin John, and Abu Salma al Russi is believed to be Christopher Harvard's alias, although he is mistakenly identified as a Russian.
Sources told The Australian that Abu Habib al Yemeni appears to have been the primary target of the airstrike. Abu Habib had a long history of fighting for al Qaeda. He traveled to Afghanistan in 1996 following al Qaeda's departure from Sudan and was known to be a companion of Osama bin Laden. Following the drone strike, US officials notified Australia about the possibility that Australian citizens were killed as "collateral damage."
(Excerpt) Read more at longwarjournal.org ...
I doubt anyone with one eye and a grain of sense will miss them.
Yemen’s a free-fire zone.
Or in other words, good riddance to bad rubbish.
Certainly this is not a loss for Australia by any measure.
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