The attack in a town in the southern province of Hadramout bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda, the official said.
Militant attacks have been frequent in the south, where Yemen is trying to quell a resurgent wing of al Qaeda and growing separatist militancy.
Al Qaeda`s Yemen-based wing has stepped up attacks on Western and regional targets in the poor Arabian peninsula state, a neighbour of oil giant Saudi Arabia.
Yemen is also trying to maintain a truce with Shi`ite rebels in the north of the country, which is a focus of Western security concerns after two U.S.-bound parcel bombs were intercepted in Britain and Dubai in October, a plot claimed by al Qaeda`s local wing. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
