Yemen air strike 'kills five Qaida militants'

SANA: An air strike believed to have been carried out by a U.S. drone in north Yemen killed five presumed members of al-Qaida on Sunday, a tribal source said.

The air raid targeted a vehicle in the Khab al-Shath area near al-Jawf, the source said, adding that suspected al-Qaida member Hassan al-Saleh Huraydan, his brother and three others were killed.

Witnesses said that three raids followed the first strike, but they did not provide details about the targets.

American drones frequently conduct strikes against suspected militants as part of Washington's war on the jihadist network across several countries, and in support of Yemen's war on extremists.

Two air strikes last week in the southern province of Abyan killed seven suspected members of al-Qaida and wounded two more.

Al-Qaida exploited a weakening of central government control during the 2011 uprising that forced veteran strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh from power to seize large swathes of the south and east.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is considered by the United States to be the most dangerous branch of the global extremist network. (AFP)