Three AQAP militants killed in US drone strike

A US drone strike killed at least three suspected Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants in Yemen's Hadramout province Thursday.

The latest killings came amid terrorist threat in the Arab country that forced Western countries to withdraw their diplomatic personnel, reported Xinhua citing officials.

"The fresh air raid hit a convoy in Al-Eyon district in Hadramout, killing at least three suspected terrorists and injuring two others," an interior ministry official said, adding "it was the second deadly US air raid on Thursday".

Earlier in the day, another US drone fired missiles at a car suspected to be carrying AQAP militants in the northeast province of Marib, killing at least four people, according to the ministry officials.

They said one Arab national was among the killed in the desert area of Wadi Abida in Marib, some 173 km from capital Sanaa.

Washington has escalated its drone strike on the Al-Qaeda network in Yemen since it closed its diplomatic mission in Sanaa Sunday.

On Monday, the Yemeni government offered a reward of $25,000 for anyone giving information leading to the arrest of 25 wanted AQAP members.

The list includes Ibrahim al-Rubaish, a Saudi national and former Guantanamo detainee who fled to Yemen in early 2009 and become Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)'s mufti.

AQAP was founded in January 2009 after the merger of Saudi and Yemeni branches.

The network is led by Yemeni militant Nasser al-Wuhayshi, who declared in July 2011 the group's allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, head of the worldwide Al-Qaeda network after the killing of its founder Osama bin Laden in 2011.