AQAP's media official, al-Awlaki's son killed in airstrike in southeast Yemen

ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-born Yemeni al-Qaida cleric Anwar al-AWlaki's son, who is also the media official of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), was among the seven terrorists killed in an airstrike in Yemen's southeastern province of Shabwa, a security official said Saturday.

The local security official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that terrorist Ibrahim al-Banna, an Egyptian national, and the media affairs official of AQAP Abdul Rahman Anwar al- Awlaki, the son of the prominent U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki who was killed late September, were killed along with five other terrorists in an airstrike launched by the Yemeni air force late Friday in Azzan town.

The al-Awlaki's 21-year-old son, was one of al-Qaida operatives in Abyan and Shabwa provinces, he said.

Local residents told Xinhua on Friday night that a Yemeni warplane hovered over the region of Azzan after carrying out an airstrike.

Shabwa, some 458 km southeast of the capital Sanaa, is considered to be a stronghold of hundreds of al-Qaida militants.

Branded as a major recruiter for al-Qaida, al-Awlaki was suspected by the U.S. authorities of providing spiritual guidance to attackers who carried out Fort Hood shooting in November 2009 and a Christmas underwear bomb attempt on a U.S. airliner in the following month.

Although al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike late September, analysts and experts on Islamic militant groups say al- Qaida's influence in the country will not be greatly affected.

AQAP's militants are apparently taking advantage of the country 's nearly nine months of political turmoil in expanding their military operations and control in the lawless southern and eastern parts of the country.

Observers fear that, with continuous domestic conflict and bloodshed, the country may well follow in Libya's steps and eventually slide into civil war, an ending that would only benefit al-Qaida.