Drone strike kills 3 Qaeda suspects in Yemen

Three Al-Qaeda suspects were killed in a drone strike in Yemen’s south on Saturday, security officials said.

The raid struck a vehicle carrying the suspected militants in Shabwa province killing all those on board, the officials said.

The United States is the only country known to be operating drones in Yemen and has vowed no let-up in its war against militants there who have exploited the power vacuum created by a conflict between the government and the rebels to expand their presence in the south and southeast.

Washington considers the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be the network’s deadliest franchise and similar strikes have taken out a number of senior AQAP commanders in Yemen over the past year.

In March this year, a Saudi-led coalition backing the Yemeni government also turned its sights on the jihadists after a year of focusing its firepower on the Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies.

Al-Qaeda claimed a suicide car bombing that struck the convoy of the governor of Yemen’s main southern city Aden on Friday.

Aidarus al-Zubaidi had escaped unharmed after the attack but three of his companions were wounded, the official said.

Aden, the temporary base of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, has seen a wave of bombings and shootings targeting officials and security forces.