Drone Strike in Yemen Hits Wedding Convoy, Killing 11 RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Drone-fired missiles struck a convoy of cars returning from a wedding on Thursday afternoon in a remote area of Yemen, witnesses said, killing at least 11 people in what appeared to be the second American drone strike in the past week. Most of the dead appeared to be people suspected of being militants linked to Al Qaeda, according to tribal leaders in the area, but there were also reports that several civilians had been killed. The drone strikes followed a deadly multistage assault last week on Yemen's Defense Ministry that left 52 people dead, and for which Al Qaeda's Yemen-based affiliate claimed responsibility. The attack stunned Yemen's political and military leadership, still struggling to regroup in the wake of popular uprisings in 2011 that toppled the country's leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh. The violence also sharpens a dilemma for President Obama, who said in May that he had approved new, stricter guidelines for drone strikes, and promised to make the drone campaign more transparent. After the president's speech, the frequency of drone strikes in Yemen briefly dipped. But a series of militant attacks in recent months have highlighted the threat posed by the Yemen-based branch of Al Qaeda, which has tried to blow up United States-bound airliners since 2009. And after American intelligence officials intercepted a phone call between two high-level Qaeda leaders during the summer, they authorized a two-week burst of drone strikes to forestall terrorist plots, officials said. At least nine strikes took place, though it is not clear whether any of the people suspected of being militants who were killed were significant figures or involved in plots. The recent insurgent attacks have laid bare the Yemeni government's inability to counter the militants, despite increased American aid for counterterrorism operations. Scores of soldiers and police officers have been killed since the summer, and there are new signs that Al Qaeda has infiltrated the Yemeni military and security services. Moreover, there are concerns that the drone strikes themselves may aggravate the problem. In the wake of last week's attack on the Defense Ministry's fortified headquarters in Yemen's capital, Sana, some Qaeda-linked websites said the militants were seeking revenge for drone strikes, repeating a theme often heard in villages where drones are audible overhead. Thursday's drone strike took place in Yakla, an area southeast of the capital known as a stronghold of Al Qaeda. Residents said that drones had been audible overhead since the day before, and that the victims were returning from a wedding in a nearby town in a large convoy. A local website, Bayda Press, gave the names of 11 dead men, all from the Tays and Bin Amr tribes, which are said to be closely associated with Al Qaeda in the area. For months, the area near Yakla, in Bayda Province, has been largely controlled by the militants, who appeared to be trying to set up a Taliban-style community, according to residents of nearby towns. On Monday, a drone strike in the eastern Yemeni province of Hadramawt killed three men who local news reports said were suspected of being Qaeda militants. It is not clear whether the two strikes this week were connected to the assault on the Defense Ministry. At least two drone strikes were reported in November as well, though details remained murky. Nasser Arrabyee contributed reporting from Sana, Yemen.