Sanaa, July 11 (IANS) Two Yemeni policemen were killed during an armed confrontation with unidentified gunmen in the country's southeastern province of Hadramout, a government official said.

On Saturday, the "unknown gunmen opened fire and engaged in an armed confrontation with a police patrol near the airport street in Seiyun, Hadramout's second largest city", the official told Xinhua news agency.

He confirmed that the armed confrontation killed two policemen and injured three others including a senior officer.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but local security officials accused terror elements linked to the Yemen-based Al Qaeda branch of being behind it.

The Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) network, which mostly operates in eastern and southern provinces, is responsible for many high-profile attacks against security forces in the country.

The AQAP, seen by the US as the global terror network's most dangerous branch, has exploited years of deadly conflict between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels to expand its presence in the war-ravaged Arab country.

--IANS ksk/