A suspected US drone strike killed five presumed members of Al Qaeda in southern Yemen, a local official said on Thursday.

A vehicle carrying the men was hit overnight as it traveled through Wadi Dikha in Abyan province, the official said, after it had set off from the southern city of Mukalla, a bastion of Al-Qaeda.

Five people, including a local Al-Qaeda chief named as Abu Ahmad al-Kazimi, died in the strike, according to the official.