Creative commons

 According to the AP, 

The airstrikes late Friday in the southeastern province of Shabwa pointed to Washington's growing use of drones to target al Qaeda militants in Yemen. The missile attacks appear to be part of a determined effort to stamp out the threat from the group, known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which U.S. officials have said is the terror network's most active and most dangerous branch.

Some of the militants who died in the attack include the media chief for the group's Yemeni branch and the son of the late Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born Islamic cleric who recruited for al-Qaida and who was killed by an American drone aircraft in Yemen Sept. 30.

Yemen’s al-Qaida branch recently claimed responsibility for plotting the failed terrorist attack now known as the “underwear bomber” case.

Reach writer Mike Vulpo here