SANAA, Yemen, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. drone strikes in Yemen on Tuesday killed at least nine people believed to be al-Qaida members.

The three airstrikes targeted an al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula convoy traveling in Al Baitha province, security officials told CNN. The convoy was en route to fight Shia Houthi rebels, a militant group that recently pushed AQAP back from its stronghold in Al Baitha.


A U.S.-Yemen joint operation has attempted to defeat AQAP, an objective aided by the Houthis' recent battlefield successes.

Houthis rose to power in Yemen in September through a U.N.-brokered cease-fire agreement. Although previously opposed to U.S. drone strikes, the Houthis appear to have since dropped those objections.