Yemen Prime Minister survives assassination attempt Basindwa was chosen to head a government of national unity in 2011 after long-serving President Ali Abdullah Saleh quit under a Gulf-brokered power transfer deal that propelled his deputy, Hadi, to power. The U.S. government supports Yemeni forces with funds and logistical support, and has regularly used drones to hunt down al Qaeda militants. A local Yemeni source said on Friday that four suspected militants were killed in a U.S. drone strike in the central al-Bayda province. But the Interior Ministry said on Saturday that five local al Qaeda leaders, all from the same extended family, died in an air strike in al-Bayda province. It identified them as Qa'ed al-Dahab, Ali Jalloud al-Dahab, al-Hamdani al-Arbaji al-Dahab, Deifallah Ahmed Deifallah al-Dahab and Mohammed al-Doukhi al-Dahab. Local sources identified Qa'ed al-Dahab as the commander of an al Qaeda-linked group in al-Bayda and said he had previously escaped at least two drone strikes. Apart from the al Qaeda threat, Yemen is grappling with a host of challenges as it tries to restore state control over the country after months of turmoil in 2011 that saw Saleh step down.