(Previous Incident Code: YEM171 )

Four people were killed in an alleged US drone strike on a vehicle in the southern Shabwa province. The dead were allegedly al Qaeda members. One was identified as Mahdi Badas (aka Abu Hussein) by local sources and the Yemeni defence ministry. He was reportedly a local leader in the group.

The others were identified by Sanaa-based, freelance journalist Iona Craig, as: Musab al Wawari, Fares Azunjubari and Hudhaifah al Azdi (KSA).

Names given of those killed in US drone strike in Shabwa: Abu Hussein Ba Das, Musab al-Wawari, Fares Azunjubari and Hudhaifah al-Azdi (KSA)

— Iona Craig أيونا (@ionacraig) October 15, 2014

An anonymous Yemeni official told Xinhua: “The air raid was conducted by a US drone plane which targeted small pick-up truck in the Shabwa province, killing four people inside who are suspected to be members of al Qaeda terrorist group.” Pictures of the wreckage were widely reported on traditional and social media:

صورة لسيارة المقصوفة قبل قليل في #شبوة بطائرة صليبية بدون طيار pic.twitter.com/Hzi0dS5qek

— شؤون يمنية (@yemen__AFFAIR) October 15, 2014

The strike comes at a time of high tension in the country. Houthi separatists took control of the capital Sanaa in mid-September. There has since been tense negotiations between the government and separatists. The Houthis have continued to take control of cities and provinces, including the Red Sea port of Hodeidah. On October 9 al Qaeda killed at least 47 in a horrific suicide bombing in Sanaa, targeting the Houthis.