ADEN (Reuters) - Six suspected al Qaeda militants were killed in a drone strike in central Yemen on Sunday, local security officials and residents said.

The strike hit a suspected al Qaeda site in al-Bayda province, killing two people believed to be local leaders of the group along with four other militants, the officials 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 nearly four year-old war between the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s Saudi-backed government to try to strengthen its position in the impoverished country.