Al-Qaeda militants seized army headquarters in Yemeni port city Mukalla Monday, killing two soldiers and taking many more hostage, in their second major assault in 10 days.

Al-Qaeda militants seized army headquarters in Yemeni port city Mukalla Monday, killing two soldiers and taking many more hostage, in their second major assault in 10 days, military officials said.

Militants from Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sharia stormed the seaside base after a suicide bomber rammed a car into the entrance, a military official said.

The militants, who were dressed in special forces uniforms and drew up in four military vehicles, then took much of the garrison hostage, the official said.

Army reinforcements have been deployed to the area and have engaged the militants, said a third official.

Mukalla is capital of Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramawt and a major port city.

The three-storey headquarters is built on a cliff, on the eastern edge of Mukalla. An army base is located across the road.

"We cannot determine the number of the assailants, nor the number of personnel who are inside," said a military officer, adding that contact with some officers held inside was lost around 2:00 pm (1100 GMT).

It is the second major assault on the Yemeni army by Al-Qaeda in 10 days.

On September 20, suspected Al-Qaeda fighters killed at least 56 soldiers and police in coordinated dawn attacks in Shabwa province further west.

Washington regards Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as the global jihadist network's most dangerous affiliate and has stepped up its drone strikes against the group in recent weeks.

Yemen is holding national reconciliation talks aimed at drafting a new constitution and preparing for elections in February 2014, as stipulated by the Gulf-brokered initiative that eased veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office in February 2012.