Two police troopers were killed and three injured in a clash with suspected al-Qaeda members after police raided an al-Qaeda safe house in the south-eastern Yemeni province of Hadhramout on Monday, security sources said, dpa reported.
The clash broke out after security forces raided a house in the Fowah neighbourhood of the port city of Mukalla, some 900 kilometres south-east of the capital Sana'a, the sources told the German Press Agency dpa.
Alleged militants hiding in the house threw a hand grenade at police troopers outside the house, killing one and injuring three. Another policeman was killed in a clash with the militants, the sources said.
Two suspected members of al-Qaeda were arrested in the raid, the Defence Ministry said on its website.
A manhunt for several other militants was still underway late in the day in Fowah, the ministry said, citing an official security source.
Yemen, an impoverished country located on the south-western tip of the Arabian Peninsula, has in recent months stepped up its crackdown on al-Qaeda militants in areas in the south and east of the country, where the group enjoys the protection of tribes. dpa kal aw Author: Khaled al-Mahdi