Officials are saying that they believe US drone strikes killed seven members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) today, though who they were is totally unclear, and security officials are just labeling them all “suspects.”
The attacks took place in the Shabwa and Maarib Provinces, destroying a pair of cars and killing everyone within. The US has yet to comment on the matter, though one of the cars was said to be on a road outside the provincial capital of Shabwa Province.
The attacks have the appearance of “signature strikes,” in which US forces attack unidentified targets simply because they give the appearance of being something worth targeting. The US has limited intelligence on the ground in Yemen during the ongoing Saudi War, but has not halted their strikes.
Most of the strikes during the Saudi War have been against pretty safe targets, like AQAP occupied bases or important buildings in AQAP-held cities. Attacks on whatever cars are still functional this deep into the war represent a change hack to the old policy of very limited justification for the strikes, and Yemeni officials endorsing them no matter who they hit.