Suspected al-Qaida gunmen attacked a military checkpoint in Yemen's southeastern province of Shabwa on Saturday, killing about four police personnel, a government official told Xinhua.
"Heavily-armed gunmen suspected of belonging to the al-Qaida terrorist group raided a military outpost in Ataq, the provincial capital of Shabwa, leaving four policemen killed and two others injured on the spot," the local government official said on condition of anonymity.
The Yemeni government source said that up to 15 al-Qaida assailants were involved in the armed attack in Sbabwa.
About five of the al-Qaida attacker and two police members were also wounded during the clash lasting for two hours, according to a provincial police official in Shabwa.
Witnesses told Xinhua that the gunmen were wearing military uniforms and arrived on two pick-up trucks.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Yemeni military officials blamed militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida offshoot for a series of assassinations and armed attacks, mostly in the country's southern parts.
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, also known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, which emerged in January 2009, is considered one of the greatest threats to the Yemeni government and neighboring oil-rich Saudi Arabia.