A Yemeni security official says five soldiers and two Al Qaeda militants have been killed in fighting in the central town of Radda, and a senior intelligence officer was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in the south.
During Yemen's 2011 uprising, al-Qaida occupied large sections of the south before being driven out by the new government. Al Qaeda has retaliated with assassinations and bombings at military compounds.
The official says the soldiers were killed Saturday when Al Qaeda fighters attacked a military checkpoint in Radda.
Another security official says Col Ahmed Abdel Razaq, who was the intelligence chief in Mukalla, the capital of southern Hadramawt province, was killed Saturday by two gunmen on a motorcycle.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.