Via LWJ:
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula confirmed that a senior leader was killed in a recent US drone airstrike in Yemen. The commander had trained in Afghanistan and served as a member of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard.
AQAP confirmed that the commander, Mohammed Saeed al Umda (also known as Ghareeb al Taizi), was killed in the April 22 drone strike on a convoy in the Al Samadah area, near the border of Marib and Al Jawf provinces. The terror group announced his death in a martyrdom statement that was released yesterday on jihadist websites. The statement was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.
“‘Ghareeb al Taizi,’ may Allah have mercy on him, … was martyred … with two mujahideen as a result of an American bombing in Samdah district of Marib,” the statement said, according to SITE.
AQAP said that Umda served in Afghanistan, where “he was close to Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may Allah have mercy on him, and was in his special guard.” Bin Laden’s special bodyguard was also know as the Black Guard.
The terror group said al Umda was on a US wanted list, was detained by the Saudi government, and then transferred to Yemen, where he then broke out of prison in Sana’a in 2006 along with 23 AQAP leaders and fighters.