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> 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> 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> 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> A suspected U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region on Thursday killed two militants, three intelligence officials said. The latest strike took place in the Kurram tribal region bordering Afghanistan and the identity and nationality of the slain men were not immediately known, said the officials.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Tribune. </s> The United States military said a raid against an al Qaeda compound in Yemen on Tuesday morning killed seven militants, with two U.S. officials saying the primary objective of the raid was to gather intelligence. U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants were killed "through a combination of small arms fire and precision airstrikes" in the Marib governorate with the support of the Yemeni government.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters. </s> The official said the strike took place at dawn on Saturday on a road to the north of Jaar in Abyan Governorate, near Aden. He did not say who was behind the strike, but previous drone strikes have been carried out by the United States.

Washington does not usually comment on drone strikes.

Yemen is home to an al Qaeda wing that has planned to attack international airliners and was once described by Washington as the movement's most dangerous branch. Impoverished and turbulent, Yemen is located next door to the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and major crude shipment routes.

The United States has stepped up attacks on al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Yemeni officials said at least six suspected militants were killed in two drone strikes last month. Another six suspected al Qaeda members were killed in January.

Militants allied to AQAP took advantage of Arab Spring chaos in Yemen in early 2011 to seize control of some towns in the country's southern provinces, including Jaar. Although they were pushed from the towns last year they continue to fight government forces. </s> An unmanned drone targeted a vehicle travelling in Baihan in the Shabwa province of Yemen, in which two suspected member of al Qaeda were travelling, according to local officials. A civil war in the Middle Eastern country has been ongoing between the Houthi forces and the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi with al Qaeda and Islamic State also involved in the fighting. Between March 2015 and January 2017 16,200 people, including 10,000 civilians have been killed, according to United Nations estimates.

The US views al Qaeda in the Yemen as a significant threat to its interests in the Middle East and has conducted dozens of drone strikes in the area under the former President Barack Obama. American defence officials have acknowledged drone strikes but have declined to comment on particular incidents. A US 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 US military also said that at least 14 suspected al Qaeda militants were killed. At least 10 Yemeni women and children are also believed to have been killed during the dawn raid on Sunday which involved missiles and helicopter machine guns. A US military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that civilian deaths could not be ruled out and that one US commando had been killed and three others wounded.

Al-Qaeda said Abdulraouf al-Zahab, a senior leader of the group, was killed along with several other fighters in the raid on the area that has been a frequent target of US drone strikes. Mr Trump called the operation a success and said intelligence gathered during the operation would help the United States fight "terrorism". He said in a statement: ”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.”

The US President spoke with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Sunday in an hour-long telephone conversation and agreed to support safe zones in Syria and Yemen, according to a White House statement. The pair also agreed to step up counter-terrorism and military co-operation as well as enhance economic ties. The White House statement said the two also discussed what it called an invitation from the king for Trump "to lead a Middle East effort to defeat terrorism and to help build a new future, economically and socially," for Saudi Arabia and the region.
A suspected U.S. drone strike kills four alleged al-Qaeda militants in Ma'rib.