The death toll from a suicide bombing in southern Yemen rose to 45 on Sunday, officials said, in the latest attack against militias allied with the army.

The bomber, suspected of being a member of Al Qaeda, struck late Saturday during a funeral service attended by members of civilian militias that helped the Yemeni Army in a campaign to recapture the town of Jaar from Qaeda militants in June.

The United States considers the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda to be the most dangerous in the terrorist network. American advisers have been helping Yemen's military in its campaign, and Yemenis say the United States has been carrying out drone strikes against the militants.

Yemen's state news agency, Saba, said 30 people died in the Saturday attack and 40 were wounded. But a security official and a medical official said that 45 people were killed in the attack. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. Saba said most of the victims were members of the civilian militias allied with the army.