10/05/2014 10:06
Yemen soldiers killed near Sanaa presidential palace
At least four Yemeni soldiers have died in a gun battle with militants outside the presidential palace in the capital, Sanaa, the BBC reported.
A security source said the clash broke out when gunmen in a vehicle tried to attack a gate outside the palace.
An explosion was also heard near a building used by the security services in the capital.
The Yemeni military is mounting a major offensive against al Qaeda-linked militants.
Heavy gunfire resounded through Sanaa for about an hour as presidential security guards battled with militants, witnesses say.
There were reports of casualties on both sides.
President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi was not believed to be at the palace at the time.
As fighting raged there, an explosion was heard in another district of the capital near a building used by the security services.
Officials quickly blamed al-Qaeda-linked militants for the attacks, the BBC's Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher reports.
But they denied earlier reports that the defence minister had survived an assassination attempt in the south where the army is mounting a new offensive against al-Qaeda.