US Troops Kill al-Qaeda Militants In Yemen

US choppers have airlifted soldiers to a central Yemeni province where they targeted an al-Qaeda compound, killing at least seven militants.

US Central Command said the troops killed the militants using "a combination of small-arms fire and precision air strikes".

The Defence Department said the operation was conducted with the support of Yemen's government.

According to Yemeni officials, the raid took place in the al-Sirim area in the province of Marib in the early hours.

Tribal leaders said explosions were heard in al-Sirim, followed by helicopters and gunfire.

The helicopters landed in the outskirts of Jouba, which is known as one of al-Qaeda's hideouts

It has been targeted by a series of air strikes in the past month that reportedly killed six militants.

According to the officials, there was also bombing in nearby Bayda province.

The Marib raid is the second publicly known US ground deployment in Yemen this year against al-Qaeda militants.

The Pentagon has stepped up air strikes as part of a sustained assault on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) since a special operations raid resulted in the death of a Navy Seal in late January.

Washington considers AQAP as one of the most dangerous branches of the terror network.

The January raid also killed 25 civilians, including women and children, and sparked outrage in Yemen.

The US military said 14 militants from al-Qaeda were killed in the assault and US service members captured

"information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots".

75 US air strikes have been carried out this year already - almost double the number since the drone programme against al-Qaeda in Yemen began in 2009.

But al-Qaeda has used the chaos of Yemen's civil war to expand its footprint and recruitment efforts.

Cover photo is file of an airstrike in Sana'a, Yemen.