US drone kills 4 in Yemen - local officials

A US drone killed four suspected Al-Qaeda members in an overnight strike as they were travelling through the central desert province of Marib, local officials announced today.

One said that authorities had not been able to identify those killed because the bodies were so badly burnt.

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Marib, now under the control of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi’s internationally recognised government, is one of several regions where Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and its local affiliate, Ansar Al-Sharia, operate and is east of the capital Sana’a – controlled by the Houthi group.

A drone hit a car carrying four suspected Al-Qaeda members near the town of Al Hami. The vehicle was completely burned and the persons inside were killed

a second Marib official said.

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

In late January, at least 30 people were killed in a US commando dawn raid in southern Yemen, including at least ten women and children, in the first such military operation authorised by President Donald Trump.

The latest attack comes at a time when US Defence Secretary James Mattis is in Saudi Arabia to discuss the Yemen crisis. Saudi has been leading an Arab coalition against the Houthis since 2015.