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Drone strike kills 3 al-Qaida suspects in Yemen

AFP
Aden, 'Adan Governorate, YemenUpdated: Oct 20, 2017, 05:24 PM IST
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Local officials said that strike was carried out late Thursday in the Summa area of the province. Picture for representational purpose (Image Source: Good Free Photos). Photograph:(Others)

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The United States considers the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to be the radical group's most dangerous branch

A drone strike targeting a car killed three suspected al-Qaida members, including a leader in the southern Yemen province of Abyan, local officials said Friday.

They said the apparent US strike was carried out late Thursday in the Summa area of the province, with the leader's body left "incinerated" and his two bodyguards also killed.

A similar drone strike on Sunday in Marib province, east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, killed five suspected al-Qaida militants.

The United States, the only government to operate drones over the impoverished country, considers the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to be the radical group's most dangerous branch.

AQAP has flourished in the chaos of Yemen's civil war, which pits the Saudi-backed government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi against Shiite rebels.