The group, Ansar Al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law), also took responsibility for an explosion at France’s Total gas pipeline in mid-October that halted supplies to the Belhaf LNG plant.

In leaflets distributed in mosques and markets in Yemen’s southern Shabwa province, it described government reports of Ibrahim Al-Banna’s killing as “lies.”

“We denounce American attacks on the Arabian Peninsula which is based on crusader thinking,” said the leaflet, referring to US drone attacks in Yemen. “The blood of Muslims will not be spilled in vain.”

Yemen’s government says Ansar Al-Sharia is the Yemeni wing of Al-Qaeda. Some analysts say other local militant Islamist groups could be at work.

Months of protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule have weakened already loose central government control over whole swaths of the country.

The leaflets said the Yemeni government had often taken credit for killing militants, only for them to turn up alive later on. Al-Qaeda usually hails the death of its members or affiliates in postings on Internet forums.