A suspected local chief of Al-Qaeda in the south Yemen province of Abyan was killed in an overnight air raid, a security official said on Monday, as air strikes continued for a second straight day.
Jamil Nasser Abdullah al-Ambari, 25, who figured on a list of wanted militants, was one of two Al-Qaeda leaders killed in the attack late Sunday, the official told AFP requesting anonymity.
He did not disclose the name of the other militant.
The defence ministry's 26sep.net news website had earlier reported that an air raid Sunday night against a "terrorist cell" in the Moudia district of Abyan killed two senior Al-Qaeda members.
"Our air force carried out a raid on terrorist elements who were planning attacks on vital installations (and) two Al-Qaeda leaders were killed," said a statement on the defence ministry's website.
Yemen's air force continued strikes on Monday, targeting a suspected Al-Qaeda training camp in the same area, the defence ministry said.
"The air force carried out a strike against an Al-Qaeda training camp in Moudia district," said a brief statement from the ministry.
It did not say whether anyone was killed or injured in the latest raid.
Yemen has intensified operations against Al-Qaeda branch in Yemen, which claimed responsibility for a failed late-December attempt to blow up a US airliner.
Earlier this month, a security official said 11 men were arrested in the capital Sanaa on suspicion of plotting attacks for Al-Qaeda.
In February, security forces arrested three suspected Al-Qaeda members and killed seven of its leaders, including the group's top commander in Yemen, Qassem al-Rimi, and Abdullah Mehdar, an Al-Qaeda chief in Shabwa province, officials said.
The United States has reportedly supplied Yemen with intelligence and other support in its operations against Al-Qaeda.
But US President Barack Obama has said he has "no intention" of sending in troops.
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