US Drone Strike Kills Three Near Yemeni Capital

Third Drone Strike in As Many Days as US Continues Escalation

The escalation of US drone strikes against Yemen continues today, with yet another US drone strike destroying a car just outside of the capital city of Sanaa and killing three “suspects.”

The attacks come after a pair of strikes over the weekend targeted cars in the city of Ma’arib, killing at least nine people. Those slain in the weekend strikes included at least one “local leader” for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula but no names were produced for today’s attack.

The US has been steadily escalating the number of drone strikes in Yemen, killing large numbers of people in the nation’s tribal-dominated interior with the endorsement of ruler Major General Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The escalation has prompted concerns that the US is going to spark a major backlash among Yemen’s tribal factions, many of which are heavily armed and can mobilize major numbers of fighters in short order.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.