ADEN: A drone strike early Saturday killed seven suspected al Qaeda militants in southern Yemen, a security official said.
The US military is the only force known to operate armed drones over Yemen.
The official said the strike happened after midnight and targeted a car in Shabwa province.
“All seven passengers, who were al Qaeda members, were killed,” said the security source.
The United States considers the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be the radical group’s most dangerous branch.
A long-running drone war against AQAP has intensified since US President Donald Trump took office in January 2017.
AQAP has flourished in the chaos of the country´s civil war, which pits the Saudi-backed government against Houthi rebels.