Missiles fired by a US drone killed at least five al-Qaida militants in Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramout on Monday evening, a government official told Xinhua.

The US drone fired several missiles at a gathering of al- Qaida militants riding on motorbikes in Shaher town in Hadramout, leaving at least five terrorists killed at scene, the local government official said on condition of anonymity.

"The deadly air bombing occurred in an area that is widely believed to be the main operating base of al-Qaida members in Hadramout," he added.

Earlier in the day, a US air strike targeted a suspected al- Qaida group in Yemen's another southeastern province of al-Bayda, killing at least two people, including a Syrian national.

Militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch are blamed for scores of attacks and assassinations on security officials in the country's restive south.

The United States has beefed up anti-terror cooperation with the Sanaa government since Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office in February, after a year of political unrest that allowed the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula to capture several cities in the south.