A roadside bomb struck a car with army soldiers in Yemen on Tuesday, killing three soldiers killed and injuring two others, a government source said.
The bombing, which hit the car belonging to the 27th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, happened in the Qattan region of the southeastern province of Hadramout, where the al-Qaida terrorist group has a strong presence, the local government source told Xinhua by phone, requesting anonymity.
"It wasn't immediately clear if any of the high-ranking army officers in Hadramout military leadership was in the targeted car, " the source said.
An intelligence officer confirmed the attack, saying that "a mine planted by suspected al-Qaida militants on a road in Qattan district struck a vehicle of the army this morning."
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the latest bombing.
The province of Hadramout has been the scene of several military offensives against al-Qaida operatives during the past two years.
Yemeni military officials have blamed militants of the Yemen- based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) for a series of assassinations and armed attacks, mostly in the country's southern regions.
The AQAP, which emerged in January 2009 and also known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, is considered one of the greatest threats to the Yemeni government and neighboring oil-rich Saudi Arabia.