Aden: Al Qaida militants attacked three military vehicles in south Yemen on Friday, killing five soldiers and wounding two, a regional security official said.

The army patrol cars were targeted in Lawdar, a city in the southern province of Abyan that saw several military raids against suspected Al Qaida militants last year.

Yemen is trying to quell a resurgent wing of Al Qaida that has stepped up attacks on Western and regional targets in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state, a neighbour of oil giant Saudi Arabia.