Aden – Three members of the al-Qaeda terror group were killed on Saturday in a US drone strike south of the Yemeni capital Sana’a.

A Yemeni security official said that the three terrorists were riding in a vehicle in the Shabwa province when they were targeted by a drone strike.

He told Agence France Presse that two of the targets were killed immediately, while the third died from his wounds at the government hospital in Azan, which is close to the strike area.

On April 23, five Qaeda members and three civilians were killed in a similar drone strike also in Shabwa.

Washington has increased its operations against terrorists in Yemen since the election of Donald Trump as president.

The US fears that Qaeda could be taking advantage of the conflicts in the Arab world in order to bolster its presence in the Arabian Peninsula.

The New York Times reported in March that Trump had given the Pentagon the green light to carry out air strikes and commando missions in Yemen without the White House’s prior approval.