Two suspected Al Qaida militants killed in Yemen drone strike

ADEN: A suspected US drone strike killed two men believed to be Al Qaida militants in Southern Yemen late on Friday, residents and local sources said.

The strike took place in the Al Naqba area of Shabwa province where residents heard a loud explosion that they say completely destroyed a vehicle carrying armed people.

Shabwa is one of several provinces in Yemen where Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is active.

Yemen-based AQAP has exploited a more than two-year-old civil war between the Iran-backed Al Houthis and President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s Saudi-backed government to enhance its influence in the impoverished country.

The United States has repeatedly attacked AQAP with aircraft and unmanned drones in what US officials say is a campaign to wear down the group’s ability to coordinate attacks abroad.