A U.S. drone strike killed seven suspected al Qaeda militants Saturday in the Mareb province of Yemen, part of a continuing air campaign against the terror organization, security officials said.

The drone struck one of three vehicles carrying the suspected militants in the district of Huraib, the officials said. The other two vehicles fled the area unharmed and continued toward the southern Abyan province.

A heavy government presence was at the scene immediately after the attack and residents said thick smoke and flames could be seen from miles away.

Among the dead were three al Qaeda leaders, according to the officials, who called the attack a blow to the al Qaeda network in the country.

The strike occurred nearly a week after a senior operative of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was killed by a CIA drone strike and less than three weeks after a Yemeni-linked terror plot to bring down a U.S.-bound jetliner was foiled.