Four suspected al-Qaeda militants killed in US drone strike in Yemen

Four suspected al-Qaeda militants killed in US drone strike in Yemen
A US drone strike has killed four suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Marib Province in Yemen. Drone strikes in Yemen have intensified since President Trump took office.
2 min read
Archive image from the aftermath of a US drone strike from 2015 (Getty)

A suspected US drone strike killed four alleged al-Qaeda militants in central Yemen on Tuesday, a security official in the area said.

The strike targeted the men's vehicle as they were heading to a farm in Marib province, according to the official, who did not want to be named.

The United States considers Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to be the most dangerous branch of the Islamist extremist group.

A long-running US drone war against AQAP has intensified since President Donald Trump took office in January 2017.

AQAP and other extremist groups have flourished in the chaos of the country's civil war, which pits the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi-- backed by a Saudi-led military coalition -- against pro-Iranian Houthi rebels. Marib province is mostly under the control of Hadi’s government

The more than four-year conflict in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, relief agencies say.

The fighting has triggered what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 3.3 million people still displaced and 24.1 million -- more than two-thirds of the population -- in need of aid.

Read more: Yemen in Focus - The 'most destructive conflict' since the Cold War