12 killed in Al Qaeda attack in Yemen

Al Qaeda militants attacked a police station and two military posts in Yemen's southeastern province of al-Bayda Thursday, killing about 12 soldiers, a government official said.

"Two military posts and a police centre were attacked by a group of Al Qaeda gunmen who threw explosives into the sites manned by army soldiers and opened heavy gunfire. Fierce fighting was still ongoing," the local government official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The armed attack targeted two sites of the 139th Armoured Brigade on the eastern outskirts of al-Bayda's provincial capital, which bears the same name, about 270 km south of the Yemen's capital Sanaa.

"Initial details show that there were high casualties. About 12 soldiers were killed and several others injured," the official said.