(Previous Incident Code: YEM172 )

Between three and ten people were reported killed when a suspected US drone struck near where clashes were taking place between al Qaeda-linked fighters, Sunni tribesmen, and the Shiite Houthi group. It was unclear whether those killed were combatants or civilian tribesmen caught in the action.

Reuters put the death toll at three, citing tribal sources, whilst AFP and Al Jazeera put it at 10. It was not clear if the dead in the strike were al Qaeda terrorists, or tribesmen embroiled in sectarian clashes with the Houthis. Reuters and AFP said the strike killed al Qaeda members. However Middle East Monitor reported the strike hit “positions belonging to fighters from Radaa tribes while battles raged with the Houthis”. And an al Jazeera reporter in Yemen said: “It is not clear if the victims are in fact al Qaeda fighters,” reported Omar al Saleh. “Some sources are telling us they could be tribesmen.”

Yemen’s already poor security situation has deteriorated further in recent weeks following the Houthi group’s September push in to Sanaa, the capital. The group has clashed with Sunni fighters, including al Qaeda-linked ones, in different parts of the country.