A US drone strike killed two suspected members of Al-Qaeda east of the Yemeni capital during the night, a local official said on Tuesday.

“Two members of Al-Qaeda were killed when a missile from a US drone hit their vehicle” on the outskirts of the city of Marib, the official told AFP.

Marib province has seen fierce fighting in recent weeks as forces loyal to Yemen’s exiled president press an offensive against Shiite rebels with the support of Saudi-led troops.

Washington has waged a longstanding drone war against Al-Qaeda’s Yemen-based branch which it regards as the jihadist network’s most dangerous.

The strikes have continued alongside the Saudi-led military intervention which began in March.

Al-Qaeda said in June that its leader in Yemen, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, had been killed by a US drone.