Three children killed in Yemen blast

Three children aged between eight and 10 were killed Thursday in an explosion in eastern Yemen that authorities blamed on al-Qaeda, local media reported, reported dpa.

The three boys, sons of a soldier stationed locally, were killed by a landmine planted beside the wall of a courthouse in the town of Qatan in the province of Hadramawt, reported the independent website Mareb Press.

The report said Islamist militants had been active in the area for two years and security forces had defused several landmines and car bombs allegedly planted by radicals.

The state-run newspaper 26 quoted a security source as saying that "terrorist elements" from al-Qaeda were behind the latest blast.

Yemeni troops launched in April a high-profile campaign, backed by the US, against militant groups suspected of links with al-Qaeda.