A US drone strike has destroyed a car traveling in the southeastern Maarib Province on Yemen today, killing six people, all of whom the Yemeni government dubbed “al-Qaeda” suspects.
The killings are a continuation of the ramshackle US-Yemeni offensive across Yemen, which has killed large numbers of people, virtually none of whom have been identified, in the past couple of weeks.
While each attack has Yemen raising hopes they killed a “al-Qaeda leader,” so far those beliefs have not panned out. The attacks have also sparked fears of retaliatory strikes, leading the US to close its embassy in Sanaa.
Though the move was described as merely precautionary, violence is rocking the Yemeni capital again today, with a gunbattle reported outside the presidential palace. The attackers were not believed to be al-Qaeda, but rather one of the many tribal factions aggrieved by the US-backed government’s policies.
