[1]Washington: US President Barack Obama has said that the core of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is on its way to defeat, but insisted that the hard fighting against the terrorist group remains.“Al Qaeda's top ranks have been hammered. The core of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is on the way to defeat,“ Obama told nearly 3,000 Marines in attendance at Camp Pendelton in California.
More than 320 Marines based at Camp Pendleton have been killed in combat operations in Afghanistan.
“This is still a hard fight,“ Obama said. “It's still tough, and we're still needed.“
Obama said more Afghans are reclaiming their communities -their markets, their schools, their towns -and they have a chance to forge their own future.
Meanwhile, a suspected US drone strike in Yemen killed six alleged Al Qaeda militants on Thursday in one of the group's former strongholds in a central province, a military official said.
The strike, the sixth by a US drone over the past 10 days came as Yemen remained on high alert following threats of a terror attack targeting Western and Yemeni government interests.
So far, about 29 suspected militants have been killed by unmanned US aircraft in an apparent stepped-up drone war in Yemen.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/obama-51jpg-071