By Mark Tarallo
► An operation targeting al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is under way in Abyan and Shabwa, Yemen, a high-level Yemeni government official who is being briefed on the strikes told CNN on Monday. The official said that the scale of the strikes in recent days against AQAP is "massive and unprecedented" and that at least 30 militants have been killed. The operation involved Yemeni commandos who are now "going after high-level AQAP targets," the official said. The predawn strikes targeted a mountain ridge in the southern province of Abyan, the official said. It's the same area where scores of followers of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had gathered recently to hear from Nasir al-Wuhayshi, the head of the terrorist network's Yemeni branch and the global organization's "crown prince," the official said. A video of the gathering has recently been shown on jihadist web sites. The official said that the raids are a joint U.S.-Yemeni operation. He would not confirm whether drones were used in the attack, but the United States is the only country known to have conducted drone strikes in Yemen, and as a rule, U.S. officials don't comment on those strikes.
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