Drone strike kills two al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen

A drone strike believed to have been carried out by the United States killed two al-Qaeda suspects in a militant stronghold in southeast Yemen, military sources said on Wednesday.

The unidentified suspects were travelling in a vehicle in the town of Qoton in Hadramawt province when they were targeted, the sources said.

The United States is the only country known to operate armed drones over Yemen, home to what it considers to be al-Qaeda's most dangerous affiliate.

It has kept up strikes on the militant groups during months of fighting between pro-government forces and Houthi rebels who control the capital.

Al-Qaeda has exploited the turmoil to tighten its grip on parts of southeast Yemen, seizing Mukalla, capital of Hadramawt province, in April 2015.

The Saudi-led coalition that has been supporting pro-government forces fighting the Houthis and their allies has not targeted the militants so far.

But Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah said on Tuesday that confronting the militants was inevitable in the future.

Al-Qaeda has long had a presence in Yemen but since the war escalated in 2015, the Islamic State group has launched a series of suicide bombing attacks on Houthi and government targets in the country.