U.S. Drones Bomb Qaida Arms Caches in Yemen

U.S. drones bombed suspected al-Qaida arms caches in a hilly region in Yemen's restive southern province of Abyan on Sunday, witnesses told Agence France Presse.

Six missiles targeted the suspected weapons hideouts in Jabal Khanfar, a hill overlooking the Abyan town of Jaar, which is controlled by al-Qaida militants, the witnesses said.

"Two American drones fired four missiles at Jabal Khanfar while two others were fired from the sea" in the Gulf of Aden, a local official told AFP. He did not provide further details.

Witnesses reported seeing columns of smoke billowing into the sky from the targeted locations and said that government buildings, now controlled by al-Qaida fighters, had been damaged. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The air strikes were carried out in the early evening, the witnesses said.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) controls large swathes of southern Yemen, and has strengthened its position there since an anti-government uprising last year that ousted veteran strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Air strikes by Yemeni and U.S. planes on Friday and Saturday killed at least 33 suspected al-Qaida militants in Abyan and al-Bayda province, south of the capital, in the first such action since a massive attack on the army, residents and local officials said.