Yemeni protesters storm US embassy in Sanaa

Protesters angered by an anti-Islam film have stormed the US embassy compound in Sanaa, while Egyptian police used tear gas as they clashed with a crowd in Cairo.

A Yemeni protester burns a US flag as others storm the US embassy in Sanaa.

SANAA // Protesters angered by an anti-Islam film have stormed the US embassy compound in Yemen's capital, Sanaa.

The protesters were on the embassy's grounds but did not enter the building housing the offices.

Before storming the embassy compound, the demonstrators removed the embassy's sign on the outer wall and set tires ablaze. Once inside the compound, they brought down the US flag and burnt it.

Yemen is home to Al Qaeda's most active branch and the United States is the main foreign supporter of the Yemeni government's counterterrorism campaign. The government on Tuesday announced that Al Qaeda's No 2 leader in

Yemen was killed in an apparent US air raid, a major blow to the terror network.

Meanwhile in Cairo, police used tear gas as they clashed with a crowd protesting outside the US embassy images broadcast by Egypt's public television showed.

The health ministry said 13 people were injured during sporadic clashes through the night outside the embassy, where on Tuesday thousands of protesters tore down the US flag and replaced it with a black Islamic flag.

The protests come a day after Chris Stevens, the US ambassador to Libya, and died in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi by Libyan extremists.