5 dead in Yemen presidential palace attack after Qaeda warning

SANAA: Five guards were killed at Yemen's presidential palace and a minister survived an ambush attack Friday, after the government warned al Qaeda would retaliate for an offensive aimed at crushing it.

President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi was not at the palace located in the capital Sanaa when suspected al Qaeda gunmen attacked a checkpoint outside the compound manned by guards, killing five of them and capturing others, a security source told AFP.

An exchange of fire broke out and went on for more than 20 minutes, according to other security sources and witnesses, amid reports that three of the assailants were killed.

Also on Friday, Yemen's defence minister, Mohamed Nasser Ahmad, and two senior security officers escaped unharmed when al Qaeda militants ambushed their convoy as they returned from a tour of the south where the army is battling the militants.

The ambush came hours after the defence minister vowed in a statement to crush Al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen, saying their end would come soon.