Al-Qaida’s No. 2 in Yemen died of wounds sustained in a US drone attack, news agency says

SANAA, Yemen – Yemen’s official news agency says al-Qaida’s No. 2 in Yemen has died of wounds sustained in a drone attack last year in southern Yemen.

Saeed al-Shihri, a Saudi national who fought in Afghanistan and spent six years in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, was wounded in a missile attack in the southern city of Saada on Nov. 28, according to SABA news agency.

The agency said that he was in a coma since then. It was not clear when he actually died.

A security official said that the missile has been fired by a U.S. -operated, unmanned drone aircraft. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Washington considers al-Qaida in The Arabian Peninsula the most dangerous the group’s offshoots.