Al Qaeda kills three soldiers in Yemen

Three soldiers were killed and five others wounded in an attack by Al Qaeda militants at a security base in Yemen's southern province of Lahj Tuesday, an interior ministry official told Xinhua.

He said the Al Qaeda militants, wearing security uniforms, attacked the soldiers guarding the main gate of the special forces based in Al Hota city of Lahj.

"The Al Qaeda attackers fled the scene in a few minutes after the security forces fired back against them," the official said declining to be named.

Last month, the militants stormed a military base in the southeast province of Hadramout, killing at least 15 military personnel.

The Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said in a statement obtained by Xinhua that its attack last month in Hadramout targeted a joint US-Yemeni security operations room used to direct drone strikes against Al Qaeda members.

The AQAP, which emerged in January 2009, is considered the most strategic threat to the Yemeni government and its neighboring oil-rich Saudi Arabia.