In a message posted on jihadist websites, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said the assassination of General Salem Ali Qoton on Monday was a "message" to the Yemeni military and its US backers, SITE Intelligence said.
The jihadist group threatened to punish anyone taking part in the campaign with "martydom-seekers who have sworn to pluck off your rotten heads that agreed to be a vehicle for America in its war against the Muslims in Yemen."
Qoton, who was the top army commander for the south, was killed along with two of his aides, when a Somali suicide bomber threw himself on the general`s vehicle in the regional capital Aden.
Qoton had led a month-long offensive against the jihadists in Abyan and Shabwa provinces, forcing them to withdraw from a string of towns and villages which they captured last year.
US officials have repeatedly described AQAP as the most dangerous of the jihadist network`s worldwide affiliates.
The United States has sent military advisers to help Yemen in its fight against Al-Qaeda and officially confirmed last week taking lethal action against the group`s members in Yemen and Somalia.
The targeting of Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen by armed US drones is an open secret in Washington, privately acknowledged by US officials.
A total of 567 people have already died in the Yemeni offensive launched last month -- 429 Al-Qaeda militants, 78 soldiers, 26 militiamen and 34 civilians -- according to an AFP tally compiled from various sources. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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