AROUND 45 al-Qaeda militants have been killed by air strikes in southern Yemen.

People living in Jaar, a southern town seized by militants last March, said an attack by Yemen's air force had killed 20 al-Qaeda-linked fighters at a military base, destroying weapons and military equipment.

Separately, a government source said 25 militants were killed in an air strike late on Friday in Bayda, southeast of the capital Sanaa. He said Hadaar al-Homaiqani, a local al-Qaeda leader, was killed. Tribal sources said the Bayda attacks were carried out by US drones.