Al Qaeda militants kill six Yemeni soldiers

SANA’A - Suspected Al Qaeda militants attacked a military checkpoint in south-eastern Yemen Sunday, killing six soldiers.

A security source told DPA that the assailants opened fire at soldiers manning the checkpoint in the block S2 area of al-Oqlah in Shabwa province.

Block S2 is an oil exploration field operated by the Austrian company, OMV.

It was not immediately clear whether any of the attackers was injured in the shootout, the source said.

The attack comes three days after suspected Al Qaeda gunmen attacked a patrol vehicle killing five policemen in Ataq, the provincial capital of Shabwa - some 570 km southeast of Sana’a.