Baku-APA. About four members of the Yemen- based al-Qaida offshoot were killed when a U.S. drone bombed their vehicle in the central province of Marib on Wednesday evening, APA reports quoting Xinhua.
"The unmanned U.S. drone fired missiles at a traveling vehicle carrying suspected al-Qaida members in the Wadi Abida district, in Yemen's central Marib province, killing about four men onboard," the local security official said on condition of anonymity.
Local tribal sources said that the drone strike targeted a small pick-up truck belonging to a mid-level commander of the al- Qaida group, reportedly named as Jafar al-Shabwani, killing him along with three of his companions.
Dozens of al-Qaida members have been killed in such airstrikes since Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office in February 2012. Before that a year-long unrest weakened the control of the central government and allowed militants to take over swaths of territory in the south.
The Yemeni government, backed by U.S. support, managed to recapture several of those southern cities in May 2012.
Critics of the U.S. government said that the drone strikes often violate international law and cause heavy civilian casualties.
In December 2013, a U.S. drone strike mistakenly hit a wedding party in Yemen's southeastern province of al-Bayda, killing up to 11 Yemeni civilians and wounding 21 others.
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