Two al-Qaeda suspects killed in Yemen attack

ADEN: Two suspected al-Qaeda militants were killed overnight in Yemen in a drone strike believed to have been carried out by the United States, a tribal source said on Friday.
The late night strike targeted a vehicle in Habban, southeast of Ataq, the main town in southern Shabwa province.
It “killed the two occupants, two members of al-Qaeda,” said the source, identifying one of the victims as Khaled Atef, a cousin of the province’s al-Qaeda chief.
Al-Qaeda militants have exploited the breakdown of security since a Saudi-led coalition launched an air war last month against rebels fighting Yemeni forces.
Among its gains, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has seized almost all of Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province.
United States Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said last week that al-Qaeda was seizing terrain during the chaos in Yemen, but vowed that Washington would continue to combat the extremist group.
The US classifies Yemen-based AQAP as the deadliest franchise of the Sunni extremist movement.