Donald Trump carries out his first drone strikes as US president…and kills top Al-Qaeda boss in Yemen
President's promise to wipeout enemies has begun as he claimed his first kills just 48 hours after taking office
PRESIDENT Donald Trump has launched his first wave of drone strikes after vowing to take the fight to the world's terror groups.
Two US Predator drones took out two al-Qaeda operatives and one of the feared terror group’s Yemen field commanders Abu Anis al-Abi.
A day earlier, another drone attack had reportedly killed a local military instructor for the group in the same province of Bayda.
Al-Qaeda warlords have taken advantage of the chaos and breakdown of security in Yemen to tighten their grip on the southern and south-eastern parts of the Arab country.
US drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda targets have been commonplace in the years since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
The use of unmanned aircraft as well as air strikes in the Arab world's poorest country rose dramatically under President Barack Obama.
On Thursday, US intelligence officials said as many as 117 civilians had been killed in drone and other counter terror attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere during Obama's presidency.
It was the second public assessment issued in response to mounting pressure for more information about lethal US operations overseas.
Human rights and other groups have criticised the Obama administration, saying it has underestimated civilian casualties.
They also worry that President Trump will more aggressively conduct drone strikes, which are subject to little oversight from Congress or the judiciary.
In the years since the drone program began, Yemen has fallen ever deeper into chaos.
A two-year-old civil war began after Shiite Houthis rebels seized the capital Sanaa and forced the president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, to flee the country.
In March 2015, a Saudi-led military coalition launched an extensive air campaign aimed at restoring Hadi's government.