Three soldiers killed by militants in south Yemen

ADEN, Yemen, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Suspected al-Qaida gunmen attacked a new governorate headquarter in Yemen's southern province of Abyan on Sunday, killing three soldiers and injuring five others, a local security official said.

The militants launched an armed attack targeting the new headquarter of Abyan province at the western entrance of Zunjbar district and fired a hail of bullets on the building, killing three soldiers and injuring five others, who were guarding the building, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The attack was carried out from the a bridge in Dahl Ahmed village, he said.

The injured soldiers were taken to a hospital in Abyan, two of them in critical condition, the official added.

Local residents told Xinhua that armed groups of al-Qaida set a number of checkpoints at the western entrance of Zunjbar district and carried out many attacks in the past two weeks on the army patrols, killing and injuring many soldiers.