(Previous Incident Code: YEM212 )

Two alleged AQAP members were killed when a suspected Saudi or US drone strike destroyed a vehicle as it drove through eastern Hadramout province. There are currently no known reports of civilian harm.

Local residents and unnamed Yemeni military officials said the strike hit in the evening. Locals told Reuters the strike hit the vehicle on the outskirts of Seiyun, the second largest city in the province and the military officials told AFP the attack hit while the car drove through al Qotn, a town approximately 40km from Seiyun, indicating the men had left or were approaching the city.

The attack hit as officials and workers in the port of Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout, said unregistered ships had been warned by the Saudi Arabian navy to leave the port facility immediately. Reuters reported this was “an apparent attempt to move against Islamist militants who control the provincial capital’s harbour”.

The Saudis had hitherto not taken steps to counter the AQAP presence in Yemen. It had focused on the Houthi militia and its allies that had taken control of the capital and swathes of the country in 2015. This reported move against Mukalla could suggest this drone strike was in fact a Saudi airstrike. While the Bureau understands the Royal Saudi Air Force is technically capable of targeting a moving target at night, analysts said this attack did not fit with its targeting norms.