A US drone strike in Yemen killed six suspected al-Qaeda militants, a tribal source said.

A US drone strike in Yemen killed six suspected al-Qaeda militants, a tribal source said.

The dawn attack, presumed to have been launched by an American drone, was the sixth of its kind since the end of July.

It targeted two cars bearing members of Al-Qaeda in the Shabwan area of the Maarib region east of the capital, the source said.

"Six members of Al-Qaeda were killed," said the tribal official who requested anonymity.

The attack came a day after Sanaa reported it had foiled a militant plot to storm a Western-run oil terminal.

A terror alert kept US and some Western missions in the region and farther afield closed.

On Wednesday, the authorities said they had thwarted a plan by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to storm a Canadian-run oil facility at Mina al-Dhaba on the Arabian Sea coast.

On the same day, another presumed US drone assault killed seven suspected militants in the southeast.