Aden, Sep 2 (IANS) Three people have been executed by militants in Yemen Monday for having links with the United States, a military source said.

“Suspected Yemen-based Al Qaida operatives kidnapped three local residents and then executed them all by firing a barrage of bullets on them in Qattan region of Hadramout province,” Xinhua quoted the military source as saying.

The three men were killed because they provided the whereabouts of the Islamic Jihadi fighters to the American enemy, local media said.

“This was the final moment of those spies who helped the US unmanned aircrafts in bombing and assassinating the commanders of the Islamic fighters in Yemen,” Ansar al-Sharia News reported citing Al Qaida-linked account on Twitter.

On March 3, the Al Qaida terrorist group killed a resident accused of aiding US drones, and crucified him on a public goal post (soccer field) in same Hadramout province.

US has recently escalated its drone strikes on suspected Al Qaida targets and pledged to continue to support the special counter terrorism efforts of the Yemeni government, aiming to uproot Al Qaida terrorist group in the impoverished Arab country.

However, critics said the drone strikes often violate the international law and cause heavy civilian casualties.

Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, also known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, which emerged in January 2009, is considered one of the greatest threats to the Yemeni government and neighbouring oil-rich Saudi Arabia.