Two army officers were killed in an attack by armed separatists on a military vehicle in the southern Yemeni province of Dhalea on Sunday, the Defence Ministry reported on its website.
It said the two officers were gunned down in a hail of bullets from "separatist elements" who ambushed the vehicle on the main street of provincial capital of Dhalea at dawn, DPA reported.
Two of the attackers were killed and one injured in a clash with another officer and a soldier who survived the attack unharmed, the ministry said.
Dhalea is one of the strongholds of the Southern Movement, which seeks the secession of the south of Yemen from the north.
It is one of many cities in the south that have been the scene of deadly clashes in recent months between security forces and insurgents as separatist violence escalates in the region.