5 suspected al Qaeda militants killed in Yemen drone strikes

Five suspected al Qaeda militants were killed in drone strikes on two villages in Yemen’s al Baida governorate on Saturday, a local official and residents said.

“The strikes targeted two villages where al Qaeda is known to be active,” a local official said, adding that a total of five were killed in the strikes in central Yemen.

Residents said two suspected militants were killed when a drone targeted the car they were travelling in.

Three people were injured in the strikes, they said.

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Yemen’s al Qaeda branch, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has taken advantage of a more than two-year-old civil war between the Iran-aligned Houthi group and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s Saudi-backed government to strengthen its position 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.

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