DUBAI (Reuters) - Seven suspected al Qaeda militants were killed by a drone strike in central Yemen on Wednesday, residents and local officials said.

The strikes hit two cars carrying armed individuals in al-Bayda province, the sources said.

U.S. forces have repeatedly launched drone and air strikes against Yemen’s al Qaeda branch, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The group 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.

AQAP operates in several provinces in southern and eastern Yemen, including in Abyan, Shabwa and al-Bayda.