Yemeni forces today killed 34 suspected al Qaeda members, including senior leaders, in a dawn raid in a remote mountainous region of Yemen's Shabwa province.
"The raid was carried out as dozens of members of al Qaeda were meeting in Wadi Rafadh," said a security source, referring to a rugged location about 650 km east of the Yemeni capital.
The head of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Nasser al-Wahishi and his deputy, Saeed al-Saudi Shahrani, were present at the meeting, said the source.
He added that members of the group's leadership, including Saad al-Fathani and Mohammad Ahmed Saleh al-Omir, were among those killed.
The source indicated that Omir had recently appeared in a video made of a public meeting in southern Abyan province which was later screened by Al-Jazeera television.
"Saudis and Iranians at the Wadi Rafadh meeting were also among the dead," said the source.
"Yemeni forces launched the raid based on information from Yemeni citizens, who told authorities the location of the meeting in Wadi Rafadh," a second security source said.
A Yemeni official said that those attending the meeting "planned to launch terrorist attacks against economic installations in Yemen, in retaliation for Yemeni strikes launched last week."
Yemen, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's ancestral homeland, has witnessed a number of attacks in recent years against targets, including diplomatic missions, oil installations and foreign tourists.
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