A drone strike has killed three suspected al Qaeda militants in Yemen, the terror group's main stronghold in the Arabian Peninsula.

The strike targeted a vehicle in which the suspected militants were travelling in the Mafraq al-Saeed area of the Shabwa province in southern Yemen. The United States acknowledges using drones in Yemen but does not comment publicly on the practice. Wealthy Gulf neighbours and the West fear for the stability of Yemen, which shares a border with the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia.