Yemeni air raids against two suspected Al-Qaida strongholds in a southern province on Monday are reported to have killed a local chief of the jehadi outfit.
Yemeni fighter jets carried out three air strikes in Modia district of the southern Abyan province that has seen an escalation in violence between southern separatists and government forces in recent weeks.
"The site is located at an area called al-Hamra Jabal Dhraa Jiza al-Ghannam at the district of Modia," the al-Motamar website quoted local sources there as saying, adding that "the area has recently witnessed a noticeable activity from al-Qaeda militants, which was detected by Yemeni security apparatuses."
Yemeni authorities have intensified their campaign against the country's Al-Qaida branch after it claimed a botched Christmas Day bid to blow up a U.S. passenger airliner over Detroit.
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