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At least 33 people have been killed in central Yemen in fighting in the past two days between Shi'ite Muslim Houthi fighters trying to expand their control and Sunni tribes allied with al Qaeda, residents said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Separately, a U.S. drone killed seven suspected al Qaeda militants in southern Yemen while they were on their way to carry out an attack, Yemeni military sources said.

The expansion of the Houthis, who hail mainly from northern Yemen, has unsettled Sunni tribes in central al-Bayda province, threatening to provoke sectarian conflict.

Residents reported intense fighting in the Qifa area, home to powerful al-Bayda Sunni tribes who joined hands with the local al Qaeda wing, Ansar al-Sharia, to halt the Houthi advance.

In the city of Radda in the same province, which fell to the Houthis earlier this month, a car bomb apparently targeting a local tribal leader allied with the Houthis was blown up safely before it reached its intended destination, residents said.

They said the vehicle was halted by a security barrier erected some distance from the home of Sheikh Mohammed Muqbel al-Aywei and his followers blew it up without casualties.