Al-Qaeda militiamen clashed on Thursday with the Yemeni troops in the south, leaving three soldiers and four gunmen killed.

Al-Qaeda militiamen clashed on Thursday with the Yemeni troops in the south, leaving three soldiers and four gunmen killed, a local government official said.

The clash ended up with the Ansar Al-Sahria (supporters of Islamic law) terrorist group seizing the camp of the 19th Infantry Brigade in Baihan, a town in southern Shabwa province, the official added.

Ansar Al-Sahria is the name adopted by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) armed organization in southern Yemen.

AFP quoted tribal sources as saying that the terrorist militants seized "dozens" of soldiers and took their weapons, but freed them following tribal mediation.

"The tribes are demanding Al-Qaeda hands over the arms," it added.

The attack came a day after the United States, Britain and France announced the closure of their embassies in Sanaa, the step which Ansaraullah powerful group described as 'unjustified'.

Ansarullah, also dubbed as Houthis, has liberated the capital Sanaa from operatives of al-Qaeda terrorist organization last September.

The powerful group issued on Friday the Constitutional Declaration, in a bid to avoid the power vacuum in the country following the resignation of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his prime minister.

It also vowed to spare no effort in order to restore security and political stability to the state.