Drone kills 15 al-Qaeda, 3 civilians in Yemen: security official
Drone presumed to controlled by the US strikes at al-Qaeda militants in central Yemen with civilian casualties
A drone strike on Saturday killed 15 al-Qaeda suspects and three civilians in Yemen’s central Baida province, a stronghold of the extremist group, a security official said.
The jihadists were travelling in a vehicle towards the southern Shabwa province, witnesses said. The three civilians were passing by in another car.
The United States is the only country that operates drones in Yemen, but officials rarely discuss the covert programme.
Last month, Yemen’s President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi defended the use of drones against al-Qaeda in his country, which has killed dozens of militants in a sharply intensified campaign over the past year.
Drone strikes “have greatly helped in limiting al-Qaeda activities, despite some mistakes which we are sorry about,” Hadi told the pan-Arab Al-Hayat daily.
The drone programme has come under criticism from human rights activists concerned over civilian casualties.