Militant behind deadly USS Cole attack killed in Yemen: US military

The US military says it has killed a militant in Yemen believed to be one of the planners of a deadly bombing of the US Navy destroyer USS Cole in 2000.

Jamal al-Badawi was killed in a precision strike in Yemen's Marib governate on January 1, US Central Command said on Twitter overnight.

Badawi was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2003 and was wanted for his role in the USS Cole attack.

He escaped from prison in Yemen twice, once in 2003 and again in 2006.

There was a $7 million ($US5 million) reward for information leading to his arrest.

In October 2000, two men in a small boat detonated explosives alongside the Navy guided missile destroyer as it was refuelling in Aden, Yemen.

The attack killed 17 sailors, wounded more than three dozen others and blasted a gaping hole in the destroyer's hull.

US President Donald Trump hailed Badawi's reported killing.

"Our GREAT MILITARY has delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded in the cowardly attack on the USS Cole," he tweeted.