Aden- Three suspected al-Qaeda militants were killed in a drone strike in southern Yemen late on Thursday, a local security official and residents said.

The strike in Mudiyah district in Abyan province on the Arabian Sea coast had targeted a motorcycle which the suspected militants were riding, Reuters quoted the official as saying.

Abyan is one of several provinces in central and southern Yemen where al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operates.

AQAP has taken advantage of the war that erupted after the Houthis and Saleh’s forces staged a coup against the legitimate authority in Yemen in 2014.

Meanwhile, Yemeni legitimate forces have forced al-Qaeda militants out of an area near Mudiyah, Sky News Arabia quoted military sources as saying last Wednesday.

Local Yemeni sources said that the legitimate forces entered al-Wadih and took base in the government compound. They also set up checkpoints at its entrances as part of efforts to combat terrorism.

That development came in line with orders by Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr on the formation of a security committee to confront the danger of al-Qaeda in Hadramawt and Shabwah, the sources said.

The committee is expected to make proposals on ways to confront such a danger in the two governorates.

Bin Daghr also called for the rejection of extremist thoughts, the sources added.