Two US drone strikes killed at least seven al-Qaeda militants.

They included the group's media chief in Yemen and the 17-year-old son of the late Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born Islamic cleric who recruited for al-Qaeda and who was killed by an American drone aircraft in Yemen last month.

The strikes came as Yemen's capital Sanaa was rocked by protests (right), blasts and gunfire when forces loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh battled tribes north of the city.

Pro-Saleh forces opened fire and killed 12 protesters in Sanaa, according to Al Jazeera. The interior ministry said one soldier was killed and 10 others were wounded.

BLOOMBERG