Three suspected Al Qaeda militants killed in US drone strike in Yemen

ADEN — At least three suspected Al Qaeda militants were killed on Monday in a US drone strike on a car in southeastern Yemen, local residents said, the third such strike in a week.

The attacks show there has been no let up in a US campaign against suspected militants despite a power vacuum left by the resignation of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi who had publicly backed the programme.

The United States regards Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has claimed responsibility for last month's deadly attack on France's Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris, as one of the most powerful branches of the global militant group.

Yemeni officials said the drone fired two missiles at the vehicle, which was travelling on a dirt road between the town of Maswara in Al Bayda province and the city of Beihan in Shabwa province in southeastern Yemen.

The strike destroyed the vehicles, killing the three people inside it. Residents reported explosions inside the vehicle after the strike, suggesting it was carrying weapons.

The United States has been cooperating with Yemeni security forces to track and kill suspected AQAP members in the country's deserts — a strategy that rights groups have criticised for causing repeated civilian deaths.