US drone attack 'kills two Al-Qaeda fighters'

Aden: A US drone attack in southern Yemen killed two suspected Al-Qaeda members, the second deadly strike in as many days, security sources said today.

The drone yesterday targeted a car driving in Habban, killing "two Al-Qaeda fighters and wounding their driver," one of the sources said.

The strike comes after an American drone attack on Saturday killed two other presumed Al-Qaeda members in their vehicle in Marib province, east of the capital Sanaa.

Washington, which views Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based branch as its most dangerous, acknowledged on May 7 that a "very small number" of US military personnel have also been deployed in support of the operation to retake former Al-Qaeda stronghold of Mukalla.

Al-Qaeda exploited the civil war in Yemen between Shiite Huthi rebels and government forces to expand its presence in the south and southeast.

The United States regularly conducts air strikes against Al-Qaeda. A March strike on a training camp west of Mukalla killed more than 70 fighters.