SANAA (Reuters) - At least two militants were killed on Monday in what security and local officials said was a U.S. drone strike on a suspected position of al Qaeda-linked insurgents in southern Yemen.

Washington has escalated its use of drones to kill suspected al Qaeda militants in Yemen, where the group exploited anti-government protests last year to seize swathes of territory in the south of the country before being driven out by a military offensive in June.

(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by William Maclean and Alison Williams)