(Previous Incident Code: YEM150 )

A drone strike destroyed a car carrying three or four people. The dead were reported as AQAP militants by the majority of sources, however one named local whose status was unclear was also reported killed.

Local media named one of the dead as Mohammed Saeed Jardan – a local of Abeeda. An official told Xinhua: ‘Four people were killed in the U.S. drone strike which took place on Thursday night in coordination with the Yemeni interior ministry.’ The official also said there was ‘an al Qaeda suspect’ among the targets. Explosions ‘rocked the area after the strike’ which suggested ‘the vehicle carried weapons or ammunition,’ according to one report.

The Yemen interior ministry reportedly said it had foiled an al Qaeda attack in Marib province. No further details were reported. The strike reportedly hit near a military position in the wadi – a dry river bed or valley.

The vehicle, reportedly a Suzuki Vitara, was traveling through Marib province at night when it was hit, strongly suggesting a US drone carried out the attack. While Yemen’s air force has carried out strikes against al Qaeda, it is not considered capable of flying precision strikes at night.