In brief: Three Americans killed in standoff

WASHINGTON – Three U.S. citizens were killed in last week’s hostage standoff at a natural gas complex in Algeria, while seven Americans made it out safely, Obama administration officials said Monday.

The State Department confirmed that gas workers Victor Lynn Lovelady, of Houston, and Gordon Lee Rowan were killed at the In Amenas field in the Sahara. U.S. officials identified Texas resident Frederick Buttaccio as the first death last week.

A U.S. official told the Associated Press earlier Monday that the FBI had recovered Lovelady’s and Rowan’s bodies.

Drone strike kills suspected militants

SANAA, Yemen …

WASHINGTON – Three U.S. citizens were killed in last week’s hostage standoff at a natural gas complex in Algeria, while seven Americans made it out safely, Obama administration officials said Monday.

The State Department confirmed that gas workers Victor Lynn Lovelady, of Houston, and Gordon Lee Rowan were killed at the In Amenas field in the Sahara. U.S. officials identified Texas resident Frederick Buttaccio as the first death last week.

A U.S. official told the Associated Press earlier Monday that the FBI had recovered Lovelady’s and Rowan’s bodies.

Drone strike kills suspected militants

SANAA, Yemen – A U.S. drone airstrike on a vehicle Monday east of Yemen’s capital of Sanaa killed three suspected al-Qaida militants and wounded two others, according to security officials.

The airstrike was the third to target al-Qaida militants in the area since Saturday.

Two of those killed were identified as Ali Saleh Toaiman and Qassim Nasser Toaiman. Both were among several hundred suspected al-Qaida militants freed by authorities in April 2012 after several months in detention, the officials said.

The third was identified as Ahmed al-Ziadi, who is suspected of being an al-Qaida leader in Marib.