Drone Strike Kills 2 Qaeda Suspects In Yemen

ADEN, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Sep, 2016 ) - A drone strike has killed two suspected members of Al-Qaeda in central Yemen, a local government official said on Friday. The two were lying under a tree in Rada, Bayda province, on Thursday when they were hit by an air strike, the official said.

Washington is the only government to operate drones over Yemen, but the United States only sporadically releases statements on its long-running bombing campaign against the country's powerful Al-Qaeda branch.

On Wednesday, it acknowledged conducting drone strikes against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula last week, killing four members of the group -- two of them in Bayda. The United States considers Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based franchise -- Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) -- to be its most dangerous.

"US Central Command continues to protect the US, its allies and partners from these threats by denying Yemen as a haven for AQAP," Army Major Josh Jacques, US Central Command spokesman, has said.

AQAP and the Islamic State group have exploited a power vacuum created by the conflict between the government and Iran-backed Huthi rebels to expand their presence in Yemen. A Saudi-led Arab military coalition that backs the government against the Huthis and their allies has also turned its sights on AQAP, targeting it with air strikes.

More than 6,600 people, including civilians, have been killed in the Yemeni conflict since the coalition began its air campaign in March 2015, the UN says.