ADEN // An apparent US drone strike in Yemen killed two suspected Al Qaeda members and caused a large explosion when munitions they were transporting blew up, a security official and witnesses said on Wednesday.
Washington is the only government to operate drones over Yemen but only periodically releases statements on its long-running bombing campaign against the country’s Al Qaeda branch.
Tuesday evening’s strike hit the Wadi Abida district of Marib province, east of the capital Sanaa.
The security official named one of the dead as Abu Yaqin Al Waeli, a local Al Qaeda commander.
Marib is largely in the hands of loyalists of president Abdrabbu Mansur Hadi and his allies in a Saudi-led coalition.
But Al Qaeda has taken advantage of fighting with the Shiite rebels who control the capital to expand their presence in the province.
Washington considers Al Qaeda’s Yemen-based franchise to be its most dangerous and has kept up its drone war throughout the conflict.
* Agence France-Presse