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4 al-Qaida operatives killed in U.S. drone strike in SE Yemen

Xinhua, March 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

About four al-Qaida operatives were killed in a U.S. drone strike against a traveling vehicle in Yemen's southeastern province of Shabwa on Friday morning, a military official told Xinhua.

"The U.S. drone pounded a four-wheel-drive vehicle carrying al-Qaida operatives in the tribal district of Radhum in Shabwa province, killing about four terrorists at the scene, " the local military official said on condition of anonymity.

A tribal source confirmed to Xinhua that "four charred bodies of al-Qaida gunmen were found scattered around the bombing site after the airstrike."

Plumes of smokes were seen rising from miles following a huge explosion that rocked Radhum area of Shabwa, according to local residents.

Yemen has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East.

The AQAP, also known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, emerged in January 2009. It had claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Yemen's army and government institutions.

It took advantage of the current security vacuum and the ongoing civil war to expand its influence in Yemen's southern regions.

Security in Yemen has deteriorated since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, and the government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

More than 6,000 people have been killed in ground battles and airstrikes since then, half of them civilians. Endit