SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni security and tribal officials say a suspected U.S. drone strike killed two al-Qaida militants in the country's central region.

They say a missile strike early Monday morning hit a car in Shabwa province used by militants coming from Bayda province. The Yemeni officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to reporters.

The strike came a day after U.S. forces launched a raid in Bayda that killed three alleged senior leaders of Yemen's al-Qaida branch. About 30 others also died in the action, half of them possibly civilians, including women and children.

A U.S. military service member was also killed and three others were wounded during the raid.

U.S. strikes against suspected al-Qaida targets have been common in recent years in Yemen. </s> SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni tribal leaders say a suspected U.S. drone strike has killed four alleged al-Qaida militants in the central province of Marib.

The tribal leaders said on Sunday that the alleged operatives’ charred bodies were later found after the unmanned aircraft targeted a house while they were inside in the district of al-Rawda. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, as the Yemeni affiliate is known, has long been considered the global network’s most dangerous branch and has attempted to carry out attacks on the U.S. mainland.

Yemen was plunged into civil war more than three years ago. Al-Qaida and an Islamic State affiliate have exploited the chaos to expand their presence in the country. </s> DUBAI (Reuters) - A suspected U.S. drone strike killed two men believed to be al Qaeda militants in central Yemen, local officials said early on Monday, hours after American commandos carried out the first military operation authorized by President Donald Trump.

The officials said the pilotless plane targeted a vehicle traveling in Baihan in the province of Shabwa, in which two suspected al Qaeda members were traveling. Both men were killed, they said.

Al Qaeda has exploited a civil war in Yemen pitting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement against the Saudi-backed government of president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to recruit more followers and enhance its influence in the impoverished country.

The United States, which sees the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda as a major threat to its regional interests, conducted dozens of drone strikes in Yemen throughout Barack Obama's presidency.

It has acknowledged drone strikes to target militants, but declines to comment on specific attacks.

A U.S. commando died and three were wounded during a dawn raid on Sunday in the rural Yakla district of central Yemen's al-Bayda province. The U.S. military also said that at least 14 suspected al Qaeda militants were killed. </s> A suspected U.S. drone strike killed two men believed to be al Qaeda militants in central Yemen, local officials said early on Monday, hours after American commandos carried out the first military operation authorized by President Donald Trump.The officials said the pilot-less plane targeted a vehicle traveling in Baihan in the province of Shabwa, in which two suspected al Qaeda members were traveling. Both men were killed, they said.Al Qaeda has exploited a civil war in Yemen pitting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement against the Saudi-backed government of president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to recruit more followers and enhance its influence in the impoverished country.The United States, which sees the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda as a major threat to its regional interests, conducted dozens of drone strikes in Yemen throughout Barack Obama's presidency.It has acknowledged drone strikes to target militants, but declines to comment on specific attacks.A U.S. commando died and three were wounded during a dawn raid on Sunday in the rural Yakla district of central Yemen's al-Bayda province. The U.S. military also said that at least 14 suspected al Qaeda militants were killed. </s> ANAA, Yemen (AP) — The Latest on a U.S. raid targeting al-Qaida militants in Yemen (all times local):

The U.S. military says a service member has been killed and three others wounded in raid in Yemen targeting a local al-Qaida affiliate.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement Sunday that another service member was injured in a “hard landing” in a nearby location.

It says the aircraft was unable to fly afterward and “was then intentionally destroyed in place.”

It says 14 fighters from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members captured “information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots.”

Yemeni security and tribal officials say the assault in central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders.

Yemeni security and tribal officials say the U.S. has launched a raid in central Yemen, landing troops off of aircraft and killing three alleged senior al-Qaida leaders in a battle on the ground.

They say the Sunday attack at dawn in Bayda province killed Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims. The al-Dhahab family is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which security forces say is concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a previous U.S. drone strike years ago.

They say the fighting lasted around 45 minutes and that the U.S. troops killed or wounded some two dozen men, including some Saudis present at the site.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

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Find 8News on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram; send your news tips to iReport8@wric.com. </s> The U.S. military said Sunday that one service member was killed and three others wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting its local al-Qaida branch.

It is the first-known combat death of a member of the U.S. military under President Donald Trump's new administration.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that a fourth service member was injured in a "hard landing" in a nearby location. The aircraft was unable to fly afterward and was "intentionally destroyed."

The Central Command statement said 14 militants from al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, formally known as "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula," were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members taking part in the raid captured "information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots."

Yemeni security and tribal officials said the surprise dawn assault in Yemen's central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders: Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims.

The al-Dhahab family is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which is now chiefly concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a U.S. drone strike several years ago. It was not immediately clear whether the family members were actual members of al-Qaida.

The U.S. troops killed or wounded some two dozen men, including some Saudis present at the site, according to the Yemeni officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

An official with al-Qaida confirmed the killings, describing the attack as a "massacre" and saying that women and children had been killed as well. The official sent to The Associated Press in Cairo photos purportedly showing the bloodied bodies of several children killed in the raid.

The official said the Apache attack helicopters struck the area from the air before dropping commandos in for the raid, which took place near Yakla village in Radaa district. He too spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Just over a week ago, suspected U.S. drone strikes killed three other alleged al-Qaida operatives in Bayda in what was the first-such killings reported in the country since Trump assumed the U.S. presidency.

The tribal officials said the Americans were looking for al-Qaida leader Qassim al-Rimi, adding that they captured and departed with at least two unidentified individuals.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, long seen by Washington as among the most dangerous branches of the global terror network, has exploited the chaos of Yemen's civil war, seizing territory in the south and east.

The war began in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led military coalition has been helping government forces battle the rebels for nearly two years.

Separately, Yemen's president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi a day earlier called for the remnants of his parliament, many of whom are in exile in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, to convene in the country's southern port city of Aden, where he is struggling to establish government control. </s> A suspected U.S. drone strike killed two men believed to be al-Qaeda militants in central Yemen, local officials said early on Monday, hours after American commandos carried out the first military operation authorized by President Donald Trump.

The officials said the pilotless plane targeted a vehicle travelling in Baihan in the province of Shabwa, in which two suspected al-Qaeda members were travelling. Both men were killed, they said.

Al-Qaeda has exploited a civil war in Yemen pitting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement against the Saudi-backed government of president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to recruit more followers and enhance its influence in the impoverished country.

The United States, which sees the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda as a major threat to its regional interests, conducted dozens of drone strikes in Yemen throughout Barack Obama's presidency.

It has acknowledged drone strikes to target militants, but declines to comment on specific attacks.

Yemen is also one of seven Muslim-majority countries subject to a controversial travel and refugee ban, said to be temporary in nature, as part of an executive order signed by Trump on Friday.

Commando killed

A U.S. commando died and three were wounded during a dawn raid on Sunday in the rural Yakla district of central Yemen's al-Bayda province. The U.S. military also said that at least 14 suspected al Qaeda militants were killed.

"Americans are saddened this morning with news that a life of a heroic service member has been taken in our fight against the evil of radical Islamic terrorism," Trump said in a statement.

"My deepest thoughts and humblest prayers are with the family of this fallen service member," he said.

The names of the casualties were not released.

A Yemeni soldier holds up his rifle near the Red Sea coast city of al-Mokha, Yemen on Jan. 23. (Fawaz Salman/Reuters)

Planning for the clandestine counterterrorism raid began before Obama left office on Jan. 20, but Trump authorized the raid, according to a U.S. defence official, who was not authorized to discuss details beyond those announced by the Pentagon and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

The raid was planned as a clandestine operation and not intended to be made public, but the loss of a service member changed that, the official said, adding that no detainees were taken in the operation.

An al-Qaeda official and an online news service linked to the group said the raid left about 30 people dead, including women and children. Among the children killed was the eight-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Yemeni-American cleric killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen in 2011, according to the girl's grandfather.

Nasser al-Awlaki told The Associated Press that the girl was visiting her mother when the raid took place. She was shot in the neck and bled for two hours before she died, he said. </s> SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The Latest on a U.S. raid targeting al-Qaida militants in Yemen (all times local):

President Donald Trump says Americans are saddened by the news that a U.S. service member was killed and three others were wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting an al-Qaida affiliate.

Trump says in a statement that “brave U.S. forces were instrumental in killing” an estimated 14 militants and capturing “important intelligence that will assist the U.S. in preventing terrorism against its citizens and people around the world.

The U.S. military says a service member has been killed and three others wounded in raid in Yemen targeting a local al-Qaida affiliate.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement Sunday that another service member was injured in a “hard landing” in a nearby location.

It says the aircraft was unable to fly afterward and “was then intentionally destroyed in place.”

It says 14 fighters from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members captured “information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots.”

Yemeni security and tribal officials say the assault in central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders.

Yemeni security and tribal officials say the U.S. has launched a raid in central Yemen, landing troops off of aircraft and killing three alleged senior al-Qaida leaders in a battle on the ground.

They say the Sunday attack at dawn in Bayda province killed Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims. The al-Dhahab family is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which security forces say is concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a previous U.S. drone strike years ago.

They say the fighting lasted around 45 minutes and that the U.S. troops killed or wounded some two dozen men, including some Saudis present at the site.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

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 WTOP is now using Facebook as our comment platform. Need help? Email us </s> The U.S. military says a service member has been killed and three others wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting a local al-Qaida affiliate.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement Sunday that another service member was injured in a "hard landing" in a nearby location.

It says the aircraft was unable to fly afterward and "was then intentionally destroyed in place."

It says 14 fighters from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members captured "information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots."

Yemeni security and tribal officials say the assault in central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders.

The surprise dawn attack in Bayda province killed Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims, they said. The al-Dhahab family is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which security forces say is concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a previous U.S. drone strike years ago. It was not immediately clear whether the family members were actual members of al-Qaida.

The fighting lasted around 45 minutes and the U.S. troops killed or wounded some two dozen men, including some Saudis present at the site, according to the Yemeni officials — who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists. U.S. military officials contacted by The Associated Press had no immediate comment but said they were looking into the report.

Just over a week ago, suspected U.S. drone strikes killed three other alleged al-Qaida operatives in Bayda province in what was the first-such killings reported in the country since Donald Trump assumed the U.S. presidency.

The tribal officials said the Americans were looking for al-Qaida leader Qassim al-Rimi, adding that they captured and departed with at least two unidentified individuals.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, long seen by Washington as among the most dangerous branches of the global terror network, has exploited the chaos of Yemen's civil war, seizing territory in the south and east.

The war began in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led military coalition has been helping government forces battle the rebels for nearly two years.
A suspected U.S. drone strike kills two al-Qaida militants in central Shabwa province, according to Yemeni security and tribal officials.