Drone strike kills 6 al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen

The official said that the likely American unmanned drone bombed the group in Qayfa, Yemen. (File Photo: Supplied)

A drone strike killed six suspected al-Qaeda militants on Sunday in central Yemen, a security official said.

The US military is the only force known to operate armed drones over Yemen.

The official said the strike happened after sundown and targeted a vehicle in Bayda province.

“An unmanned drone -- likely American -- bombed the group’s vehicle in the area of Qayfa, where Al-Qaeda is active,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Al-Qaeda’s global network remains “remarkably resilient,” posing more of a threat in some regions than the Islamic State group, UN sanctions monitors said in a report seen by AFP on Wednesday.

The report sent to the Security Council said that the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) served as a communications hub for the UN-designated terror group as a whole.

A long-running American drone war against AQAP has intensified since US President Donald Trump took office in January 2017.