Al Qa'eda attacks Yemen army vehicles, five dead

Attack targeted three military vehicles in south Yemen, killing five soldiers and wounding two.

ADEN // Al Qa'eda militants attacked three military vehicles in south Yemen on Friday, killing five soldiers and wounding two, a regional security official said.

The army patrol cars were targeted in Lawdar, a city in the southern province of Abyan that saw several military raids against suspected al Qa'eda militants last year.

In November, a day after the state kicked off a regional soccer cup, a roadside bomb in Lawdar killed one soldier and wounded two others riding in a military vehicle.

Abyan's capital Zinjibar was hosting the 20th Gulf Cup along with the neighbouring coastal province of Aden and the government had put in place heavy security, deploying tens of thousands of troops to prevent any violence.

Yemen is trying to quell a resurgent wing of al Qa'eda that has stepped up attacks on Western and regional targets in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state, a neighbour of oil giant Saudi Arabia.

Yemen, also trying to maintain a shaky truce with rebels in the north, is a focus of Western security concerns after two US-bound parcel bombs were intercepted in Britain and Dubai in October, a plot claimed by al Qa'eda's Yemen-based regional wing.