title: Five suspected al Qaeda militants killed in Yemen drone strikes
text: DUBAI (Reuters) - Five suspected al Qaeda militants were killed in drone strikes on two villages in Yemen s al Baida governorate on Saturday, a local official and residents said.   The strikes targeted two villages where al Qaeda is known to be active,  a local official said, adding that a total of five were killed in the strikes in central Yemen. Residents said two suspected militants were killed when a drone targeted the car they were traveling in.  Three people were injured in the strikes, they said. Yemen s al Qaeda branch, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has taken advantage of a more than two-year-old civil war between the Iran-aligned Houthi group and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi s Saudi-backed government to strengthen its position in the impoverished country. The United States has repeatedly attacked AQAP with aircraft and unmanned drones in what U.S. officials say is a campaign to wear down the group s ability to coordinate attacks abroad. 