At least five Al Qaeda militants were killed in a suspected US drone strike in Yemen, officials said on Saturday.
The latest drone strike is the third such attack this week, with a total of 10 militants killed in the strikes.
A local official told Agence France Presse that Friday evening's strike in Marib Province, east of Yemen's capital Sanaa, killed local commander Abu Khaled al-Sanaani and four guards while they were travelling in a vehicle.
On Thursday, a drone strike in neighbouring Al-Bayda Province killed three suspected Al Qaeda militants, one of them identified as Abdallah al-Sanaani, a regional commander.
Another strike on Tuesday in Marib Province killed two suspected Al Qaeda members and caused a large explosion when munitions they were transporting blew up.
Marib is largely in the hands of loyalists of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and his allies in the Saudi-led coalition operating in the country.
The United States has been using drones to target the group, which has exploited Yemen's civil war to establish a foothold in the impoverished country. Several leaders of the group have been killed by drone strikes in recent years.
A coalition of Arab states allied with Hadi's government has been carrying out air strikes against the Houthi insurgency since late March.
Houthi rebels are allied with militias loyal to deposed president Ali Abbdullah Saleh and according to many Gulf countries are backed by Iran with military equipment, including weapons. Tehran has denied these claims.
