Drone strike kills 4 suspected Al Qaeda militants in Yemen
The RQ-1 Predator drone lands at Balad Air Base in Iraq after a sortie on Sept. 15, 2004.
Four suspected Al Qaeda members are dead and the explosives they were carrying destroyed after a supposed American drone strike early Saturday in Yemen.
Tribal leaders told Agence France-Presse that the strike occurred in the Al-Mahfad region of Abyan province.
The truck carrying the militants was thought to be also transporting grenades and explosive belts.
The US has increasingly deployed drones in Yemen, which shelters what the White House calls the jihadist network’s most dangerous branch, AL-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), AFP reported.
According to the New America Foundation, the US and Yemen have launched 117 drone strikes in the country since 2002.
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It’s unknown if the drone strike was American or Yemeni since the US government doesn’t comment on them, Reuters reported.
Saturday’s strike also injured several others, according to the news service.
Last month, six suspected militants died in two drone attacks with six more dying in January, Reuters said.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
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