ADEN: At least 44 people were killed in south Yemen on Tuesday as the army pounded the Al-Qaeda stronghold of Jaar and clashes between jihadists and troops backed by local militias raged nearby, sources said.

Twenty-five Islamist militants were among the dead, 13 killed in air raids on Jaar and 12 in battles raging around Loder, another town in restive Abyan province, local and tribal sources said.

In the air raids on Jaar, twelve civilians were also mistakenly killed, while two soldiers and five armed residents died in Loder, witnesses and military sources said. AGENCIES