Yemen’s defense minister escaped an assassination attempt but at least seven people died in the car bombing that followed the killing of al-Qaida’s second-in-command in the country.

Yemen's defense minister escaped an assassination attempt but at least seven people died in the car bombing that followed the killing of al-Qaida's second-in-command in the country, government sources said.

Witnesses said the blast happened as Mohammad Nasir Ahmad's motorcade left the prime minister's office in Sanaa after a cabinet meeting. Seven people were wounded.

One vehicle carrying security personnel was destroyed but the minister, who was travelling in a different armored car, survived. Aides said he was unhurt and had told Prime Minister Mohammad Basindwa he was safe.

"A booby-trapped car waited for the motorcade of the minister near the government offices and as soon as it moved, it exploded," a security source told Reuters news agency.

"A security car was totally destroyed and all its occupants were killed, but the minister survived because his car is armored."

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which followed the killing of the deputy leader of the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda, Saeed al-Shehri, in an attack last week.

Al Qaeda blames the minister for leading a campaign that drove it from strongholds in southern Yemen, an area that has become of increasing concern to the United States in its campaign against extremist militants.

Yemen claimed a major victory in its battle with al Qaeda this week with the death of Shehri, although public anger about U.S. drone attacks remains strong because of civilian deaths.

Officials say it was the fourth assassination attempt against the defense minister since a new government was formed last December, after a power transfer deal under which long-ruling President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down.