12 Killed in 'Qaida Attack'

A suspected al-Qaida attack on an army post in Hadramawt province in southeast Yemen on Friday killed eight soldiers and four militants, military and local sources said.

"The attackers approached the position on board several vehicles and opened fire on the soldiers with different types of weapons, killing eight and wounding 11 more," the military source told Agence France Presse.

The officer in command of the position was among the dead.

He said the militants targeted a post known as Hanine in the area of Al-Qatn town in the center of the vast semi-desert province.

Military reinforcements sent to the area came under fire from the militants and an unknown number were wounded, a local administration official said.

He said four militants were killed and several wounded, but the attackers took their dead and wounded with them when they withdrew.

Friday's was the second major attack by militants on Yemeni troops army in three days.

On Thursday, al-Qaida claimed a brazen assault on an army headquarters in a highly secure area of Aden the previous day.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is viewed by Washington as the deadliest franchise in the extremist network, and is the target of frequent U.S. drone attacks.

AQAP said Wednesday's attack on the Aden military complex killed "nearly 50 soldiers" and was part of its campaign to "target the joint operation rooms that manage the U.S. drones in the country".

A security official gave a death toll of six soldiers, three civilians, 10 assailants and a suicide bomber from that attack.