7 killed in 2 drone strikes in Yemen

Two drone strikes killed seven alleged al Qaeda members in southern Yemen on Saturday morning, a local official said, nine days after U.S. President Barack Obama said he would only use such strikes when a threat was "continuing and imminent". The official said the seven were in two cars driving in the al-Mahfad district of Abyan Governorate in southern Yemen. Lawless, impoverished Yemen lies on major international energy shipment routes and shares a long, porous border with Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter. President Obama has come under criticism in the United States for his government's use of drone strikes which have led to civilian casualties. He said in a speech on May 23 that the Defense Department would now take the lead in launching lethal drone strikes from the Central Intelligence Agency, meaning there would be more Congressional oversight of the programme.