A U.S. drone mistakenly targeted a wedding convoy in al-Bayda province after intelligence reports identified the vehicles as carrying al Qaeda members, two Yemeni national security officials told CNN. The officials did not identify the plane in the strike in central al-Bayda province, but tribal and local media sources said that it was a drone. "An air strike missed its target and hit a wedding car convoy, ten people were killed immediately and another five who were injured died after being admitted to the hospital," one security official said.
Five more people were injured, the officials said.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged media reports about members of a wedding party getting killed in a counterterrorism strike.
"We have no information that corroborates these reports," the official said, without elaborating.
The United States has stepped up drone strikes as part of a campaign against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Human Rights Watch said in a detailed report in August that U.S. missile strikes, including armed attacks, have killed dozens of civilians in Yemen.
On Monday, missiles fired from a U.S. drone killed at least three people travelling in a car in eastern Yemen.