US drones attacked a group of fighters believed to be from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) today in southern Yemen, killing seven people. None of them have been identified.
This is just the icing on the cake for a bloody couple of days, as AQAP continues to fight the Shi’ite Houthis over control of parts of central and southwestern Yemen, fighters which have killed at least 33 other people.
The fighting continues to center around Radda, a former AQAP stronghold which is now under Houthi control, and an AQAP suicide bombing killed a large number of Houthi fighters at a meeting there.
Though ideologically opposed, AQAP and the Houthis have long been separated by government territory which kept them from much direct conflict. Since the Houthi capture of the capital of Sanaa, however, they are fighting more or less constantly, with the Yemeni military often backing the Houthis.