DUBAI Suspected U.S. drones fired missiles at al Qaeda targets in two separate attacks in Yemen on Monday, residents said, extending several days of U.S. strikes against the militants.
Residents said an air strike hit the home of an al Qaeda suspect in the village of Noufan in central al-Bayda province, and another struck a mountainous area believed to house a training camp in al-Saeed in southern Shabwa province.
There were no immediate reports on casualties in the raids, which took place in areas controlled by al Qaeda fighters.
Previous air operations over the weekend using manned and unmanned aircraft highlight rising U.S. concern over the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) group, which has gained ground amid the chaos of the country’s two-year-old civil war.
The conflict between the government backed by a Saudi-led military coalition and the Iran-allied Houthi movement has allowed AQAP and Yemen’s branch of Islamic State to gain territory and carry out attacks.
(Reporting By Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Toby Chopra)
