US targeted Iranian official in Yemen in failed strike: sources

The United States targeted but failed to kill a top Iranian military official in Yemen on the same day that it killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani last week, US officials told Reuters on Friday.

The operation reportedly targeted Abdul Reza Shahlai, a senior officer in the Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds force, the unit in charge of foreign operations that had been headed by Soleimani.

The US officials didn't say if the military operation tried to kill him in a drone strike as it did Soleimani last week in Baghdad, or in a ground operation.

The Pentagon declined comment on the failed strike in Yemen.

The US Treasury Department says Shahlai was based in Yemen and accused him of ``a long history of targeting Americans and US allies globally," including killing U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq. It has offered a $15 million reward in connection with him under its "Rewards for Justice" program.

Shahlai was based in Yemen, where Iran is supporting the Houthi rebels, who are fighting forces backed by Saudi Arabia.

REUTERS