U.S. drone strike kills 4 suspected al-Qaida operatives in Yemen

A U.S. drone strike killed at least four suspected members of al-Qaida network in northeast Yemen on Tuesday, a local security official told Xinhua.

The drone hit the suspects while traveling on a road between Marib and al-Jawf provinces, northeast of the capital Sanaa, the official said on condition of anonymity, providing no further details.

The area between the two provinces have witnessed fierce civil war between forces loyal to Saudi-backed exiled government and militants run by dominant Houthi group and its allies of forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

It was the latest in a series of almost monthly drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects in Yemen.

The United States have been flying drones over Yemen since 2000, killing hundreds of Yemen-based al-Qaida suspects.

However, al-Qaida operators have since reportedly increased in numbers with public presence and control of many small towns in several major southern and southeastern Yemeni provinces.

They have recently exploited the security vacuum after the country's army and security forces split apart and were involved in civil war against northern Shiite Houthi rebels, who overthrew the central government in 2014. Endit