Yemen is a key US ally in the war against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has plotted several foiled attacks against the United States.
The bloodshed comes amid mounting protests against the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who claims to be the guarantor of security in the deeply tribal and impoverished country.
Unidentified gunmen believed to be from Al-Qaeda shot dead four soldiers from Yemen`s elite Republican Guard near Marib, about 170 kilometres (110 miles) east of Sanaa, a local official told AFP.
"The attack was similar to others by Al-Qaeda," he added.
Al-Qaeda militants shot and killed an army intelligence officer in the city of Zinjibar, in southern Abyan province, a local official said.
Colonel Abdulhamid al-Sharaabi "was in the market when two men riding a motorbike attacked him, with one of them shooting him. He died instantly, while the two men ran away," the official said, requesting anonymity.
Another officer was later shot dead in the city of Sayun, in the eastern province of Hadramut, by gunmen suspected to be from Al-Qaeda, a security official said.
Two gunmen on a motorbike gunned down Colonel Shayef al-Shuaibi at a restaurant, witnesses said. Shuaibi was hit in the head and died instantly, they said.
Al-Qaeda militants have regrouped in the southern Arabian Peninsula state, particularly in Marib, Abyan and Hadramut.
A US State Department official last month described Yemen-based AQAP -- a fusion of the Yemeni and Saudi branches of the jihadist network -- as the "most significant" threat to the US homeland.
Washington in December called on Yemen to step up its fight against Al-Qaeda, a year after a botched attempt to blow up a US passenger plane.
AQAP has been accused of being behind the attempted 2009 Christmas Day attack, allegedly carried out by a young Nigerian who had reportedly studied in Yemen.
On February 22, five people, including three soldiers, were killed in a gunfight with Al-Qaeda militants in Marib, the defence ministry said.
In separate attacks in January, suspected Al-Qaeda militants killed 12 soldiers in ambushes on military convoys and an attack on a military checkpoint in the south of the country.
In addition to its struggle against Al-Qaeda, Sanaa is also grappling to control mounting protests against Saleh, in power since 1978.
At least 19 people have been killed since the protests began on February 16, according to an AFP toll based on reports and witnesses. Human rights group Amnesty International has put the toll at 27.
The demonstrations come amid a regional wave of unrest that has already forced the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt to quit and which is threatening the four-decade regime of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
