The Yemen-based branch of al-Qaida said a US drone strike has killed a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who rose to become the group’s No 2 figure.

An air strike killed al Qaida’s second in command in Yemen along with six others travelling with him in a car, US and Yemeni officials said.

A freed Guantanamo Bay terror detainee has re-emerged as an al-Qaida commander in Yemen, the US said today.

One of Saudi Arabia’s most-wanted militants turned himself in to authorities in southern Saudi Arabia, a security official said today.