Two policemen and two al-Qaeda suspects have been killed in a clash following a checkpoint incident in Yemen.
Security services detained "four al-Qaeda militants at a checkpoint in (the western province of) Hudaydah" at dawn on Tuesday, ministry officials said.
Two hours later, more al-Qaeda militants in two cars, one of them booby-trapped, launched an assault that sparked an exchange of fire during which two policemen and two of the assailants were killed.
Two other policemen and a third attacker were wounded as the rest of the extremists fled.
Authorities were dismantling the unexploded bombs planted in the vehicle.
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The United States views Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as the global jihadist network's most dangerous branch.
AQAP has claimed repeated deadly attacks, some of them in the heart of the capital Sanaa.
Despite attempts by the army to crush AQAP in its strongholds in the east and south, militants continue to carry out deadly attacks on security forces across the country.
