US Drone Strike Kills Two in Eastern Yemen

Slain Are Unidentified 'Suspects'

After a several week lull, the US has launched its second drone strike against Yemen of the week, destroying a car in the Hadrawmut Province and leaving the bodies of the two people within burned beyond recognition.

At present there is no indication of who the slain were, but as usual they are being labeled “suspects,” by virtue of having been hit in a US attack. The car was reportedly traveling on the outskirts of the town of Sayoun.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has taken advantage of the US-backed Saudi war in Yemen to seize a large portion of eastern Yemen, and the US has focused a lot of its drone strikes on the area since then. The lack of US targeters on the ground, however, leave open the question of who is actually being killed.

On Sunday, the US had launched a drone strike against another car in the Shabwa Province, killing three people within. As with today’s attack, there has been no indication who any of the victims are.

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.