The US military said Monday (October 16th) it killed dozens of "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) fighters at the group's training camps in central Yemen, in the first such strikes in the country's conflict, AFP reported.
Locals said the camps, both in al-Bayda province, were named after prominent ISIS figures: Yemen chief Abu Bilal al-Harbi and former global spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani, killed last summer in an airstrike.
This is the first time allies of Yemen's internationally recognised government have announced raids against ISIS footholds.
"US forces killed dozens of ISIS members in a strike on two ISIS training camps... in al-Bayda governorate, Yemen, disrupting the group's attempts to train new fighters," the US Central Command said in a statement.
"ISIS used the camps to train militants to conduct terror attacks using AK-47s, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and endurance training," the statement said.
"Strikes against ISIS targets disrupt and destroy militants' attack-plotting efforts, leadership networks and freedom of manoeuver within the region," it said.
