Drone strike kills three al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen

An overnight drone strike killed three suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen, a country where the United States is the only power operating the unmanned aircraft, a tribal source said Monday.

The late Sunday strike in the Markha district of the southern province of Shabwa also wounded another three suspected militants, the source told AFP.

It was the second drone strike in the province in as many days. On Saturday, a drone strike on a vehicle killed three militants in the village of Bijan.

Yemen has descended into chaos since a Shiite militia overran the capital Sanaa last September.

But President Barack Obama vowed in January not to let up in the US campaign against the militants’ Yemen branch, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which Washington regards as its most dangerous.

The Houthis militia seized the presidential place in Sanaa in January and placed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi under effective house arrest but the Western-backed leader managed to escape late last month to the main southern city of Aden.

The port city and neighboring provinces are largely controlled by troops and militia loyal to Hadi.

But Al-Qaeda has a strong presence in parts of the south, including Shabwa and Hadramawt province further east.