By Mohamed al-Samei

SANAA 

At least ten people were killed in a series of suspected U.S. drone attacks on Al-Qaeda militants near the flashpoint city of Rada'a in central Yemen, a tribal source said Tuesday.

"Ten people were killed in three separate strikes by suspected U.S. drones that targeted a convoy of Al-Qaeda militants and allied tribesmen who were withdrawing from Rada'a city," the source told Anadolu Agency.

The strikes came only hours after a similar attack on suspected Al-Qaeda militants left three of the latter dead in northern Rada'a.

Yemen's Shiite Houthi militant group and Al-Qaeda have been fighting for control of the Al-Bayda' province – of which Rada'a is the largest city – for nearly two weeks.

In recent months, Yemen appeared to teeter on the verge of civil war as the powerful Houthi group sought to expand its control beyond capital Sanaa – over which it assumed control in September – to other parts of the country.  

The growing Houthi influence has pitted the Shiite movement against Al-Qaeda, which remains active in politically fractious Yemen.

Recent fighting between the two sides in the country's central and western regions has left dozens dead.

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