Six Al-Qaeda suspects were killed Monday in an raid in Al-Mukla of the southeastern governorate of Hadhramout, local sources said.
While the sources said that militants were killed by a US drone strike, other sources said they were hit by a missile fired from a ship off Yemen's shore.
The sources said that the suspects were on a vehicle at Broom area of Al-Mukla, pointing out that the vehicle came from Azan, a town of Shabowa governorate which was declared by Al-Qaeda as an Islamic Emirate.
Two Senior Al-Qaida leaders escaped an airstrike which killed three militants in Yemen on Monday in Al-Baidha governorate.
Ansar Al-Sharia, an Al-Qaeda-linked group said Qaid Al-Dhahab, an Al-Qaeda leader in Al-Baidha, escaped the raid and that two civilians who were not connected to Al-Qaeda were killed. Al-Qaeda militants took over Rada'a of Al-Baidha, but they withdraw after a tribal mediation managed to persuade them to withdraw in return for releasing some imprisoned Al-Qaeda operatives from the authorities' jails.
A leader of Al-Qaeda in Al-Baidha, Tariq Al-Dhahab, was killed by a half-brother in Rada'a town early of 2012.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta defended on Sunday drone strikes in Yemen as a measure "to defend and protect the United States of America."
Meanwhile, the Yemeni army continue its offensive against Al-Qaeda strongholds in Zinjibar and Jaar of Abyan.
Local sources said the army holds most parts of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, which fell to al-Qaida last year. They say 48 hours of fierce fighting left 22 militants and nine soldiers dead.