Drone strike kills 7 Qaeda suspects in Yemen

ADEN: A drone strike early Saturday killed seven suspected Al-Qaeda militants in southern Yemen, a security official said.

The US military is the only force known to operate armed drones over Yemen.

The official said the strike happened after midnight and targeted a car in Shabwa province.

"All seven passengers, who were Al-Qaeda members, were killed," said the security source.

The United States considers the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be the radical group's most dangerous branch.

A long-running drone war against AQAP has intensified since US President Donald Trump took office in January 2017.

AQAP has flourished in the chaos of the country's civil war, which pits the Saudi-backed government against Shiite Huthi rebels.