US drone strike kills 5 al-Qaeda gunmen in Yemen

At least five al-Qaida gunmen were killed and two others injured in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramout on Thursday, a government official told Xinhua.

Three missiles hit a house in the coastal city of Mukalla, Hadramout's provincial capital, where al-Qaida terrorist group has a large presence, said the official, based in Hadramout, on condition of anonymity.

Specific identities of the killed and wounded are not known yet, but military intelligence sources reportedly confirmed that all the dead were active members of the al-Qaida and had engaged in many armed attacks against the armed forces in the province.

The drone attack came one day after al-Qaida gunmen blew up headquarters of the Second Regional Military Command in Hadramout and set up several checkpoints in the province's key entrances.

Residents confirmed to Xinhua by phone that the large explosion on Wednesday destroyed the three-story military building but caused no casualties.

Hadramout province has seen scores of armed attacks since hundreds of militants of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) took control of the Mukalla city several months ago.

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East.

AQAP, also known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, emerged in January 2009. It has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Yemen's army and government institutions.

Source: AFP