Four soldiers were killed and three wounded in a suspected Al-Qaeda attack on a checkpoint in southern Yemen, a security official said Monday.
"Terrorist elements on Sunday evening attacked... soldiers at a checkpoint" in the town of Loder in Abyan province, the official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
"The exchange of fire lasted half an hour, killing four soldiers and wounding three along with an undetermined number of dead and wounded among the attackers," he said.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is seen by Washington as the extremist network's most dangerous franchise.
It and the rival ISIS group have exploited a power vacuum created by fighting between the government and Shiite Houthi rebels to expand their presence in Yemen, especially in the south.
AQAP claimed responsibility for a car bombing in the town last week that seriously wounded a senior security official and killed one of his guards, a security source said.
-Agencies
-File photo of pro-government fighters