A US drone strike in central Yemen killed two suspected Al-Qaeda members on a motorbike including a local commander, a security official said Saturday. The strike came as UAE-backed Yemeni special forces launched a new offensive against Al-Qaeda in southeast Yemen, losing two soldiers. The unmanned aircraft struck the motorcycle carrying the men in Bayda province at around midnight Friday, the official told AFP.
"The strike targeted two Al-Qaeda militants, local commander Abu Hussein al-Theriya and another, Dawoud al-Sanaani, as they rode through the province," he said. Although the US only sporadically reports on its long-running bombing campaign against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), it is the only force known to operate armed drones over Yemen.
The drone war has intensified since President Donald Trump took office. Washington also backs a Saudi-led coalition in its military intervention in Yemen, launched in 2015 with the aim of forcing Iran-backed Shiite rebels from the capital and restoring the government to power.
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