Al-Qaeda gunmen attacked a makeshift military post, killing nine Yemeni soldiers on Tuesday.

Al-Qaeda gunmen attacked a makeshift military post, killing nine Yemeni soldiers on Tuesday.

The attack on a desert road in the country's mostly lawless eastern provinces has also wounded at least eight other soldiers.

"Al-Qaeda militants attacked a military position on the road between Hadramawt and Marib province (in the east)," the official said requesting anonymity, adding that "nine soldiers were killed" in the assault.
The militants attacked the soldiers just after dawn with "automatic weapons," the official added.

The attack is the latest in a deadly week of battles between Yemeni security forces and Al-Qaeda linked militants that have strengthened their presence in the country's south and east in the wake of the year-long uprising that was ended by a power transfer from former President AliAbdullah Saleh to Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.