A Yemeni air force commander and his three bodyguards were injured Sunday evening after their car was struck by a roadside bomb in the southeastern province of Hadramout, a police officer told Xinhua.
A remote-controlled bomb went off as the vehicle carrying Colonel Yahya Rawishan, commander of the air force's brigade in Hadramout, passed through a main street in the port city of Mukalla, the capital city of Hadramout, the local police officer said on condition of anonymity.
"The commander escaped the assassination attempt with small injures in his legs... He is taking medical treatment at a hospital in Mukalla city," the police officer said.
"An investigation launched by experts of the criminal police agency into the incident is underway," he added.
Witnesses told Xinhua anonymously that security troops cordoned off the area after the incident, and ambulances sent the injured soldiers to a nearby local hospital. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Yemeni Defense Ministry accused al-Qaida terrorist network for masterminding the operation.
Al-Qaida militants have claimed responsibility for assassinating several army commanders and intelligence officers of southern regions weeks later after they were driven out of their bastions in cities of Abyan and Shabwa provinces in a U.S.-backed offensive.
Fighting al-Qaida militants in the restive south is one of challenges confronting current Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has promised to launch a national dialogue to settle disputes between all political factions and to uproot the Yemeni branch of al-Qaida.