7 civilians killed in Yemen

At least seven civilians, including two children, were killed in two air raids Tuesday that hit a Yemeni town controlled by Al-Qaeda, a local official and tribesmen said.

The raids were carried out at dawn, "probably by a drone" in Mahfed, which lies between the provinces of Abyan and Shabwa in Yemen's south, a local official told AFP.

"The raids mistakenly hit the home of a family, killing seven members," said the official.

A tribal source confirmed the raids and gave a toll of eight civilians killed, "including four women and two children."

But he could not tell if they were carried out by a drone or a fighter jet.

US strikes have taken out a number of senior Al-Qaeda commanders in Yemen over the past year.

Washington considers the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as the network's deadliest franchise and has vowed no let-up in its war against the militants.  

The US military said this month that it had killed six Al-Qaeda fighters in three separate strikes in central Yemen.

A Saudi-led coalition which intervened in Yemen in March 2015 in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi against Huthi rebels has also turned its firepower on militants impeding the government's bid to firm up its grip on southern areas recaptured from insurgents.

The latest deadly strikes come after a wave of suicide bombings targeting Yemeni troops killed at least 42 people Monday in the southeastern city of Mukalla, officials said, in attacks claimed by Daesh.

Mukalla was under AQAP control for one year until pro-Hadi troops, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, drove the militants out in April.

AQAP, based in Yemen since 2009, and Daesh have exploited the power vacuum created by the conflict in the impoverished country to expand their presence in the south and southeast.

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