Yemen: Drone kills alleged tanker attacker

SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Yemeni military officials say a U.S. drone strike has killed a top al-Qaida militant wanted for allegedly masterminding a 2002 attack on a French oil tanker.

In a separate incident, officials say a Yemeni warplanes killed 14 civilians in an errant airstrike.

The Defense Ministry says Khaled Batis, wanted in connection with the attack on the Limburg off the coast of Yemen that killed one person, was among five militants riding a vehicle struck by a drone in the southern city of Hadramawt.

The U.S. frequently targets militants in Yemen with drone strikes and also advises the country's ground forces, though it rarely acknowledges its role.

In the other incident, Yemeni fighter planes mistakenly hit vehicles carrying civilians traveling south of the capital Sunday, killing 14.

Military officials say the airstrikes in Radda in the province of Bayda were based on faulty intelligence that the passengers were al-Qaida members. Missiles fired from the warplanes hit two vehicles carrying local residents returning to their villages.

Tribesman Sheik Ahmed Ali said the dead included three women and three children.