SANAA
Five Yemeni soldiers were killed Friday in confrontations with armed tribesmen in Hadhramaut province in Yemen's restive southern region, tribal sources have told Anadolu Agency.
According to tribesmen, the soldiers were killed while en route to an oil pipeline in the Ghil Bin Yamin district, where clashes broke out after armed tribesmen attempted to block their vehicles.
An unspecified number of other soldiers were injured in the clashes, the sources said, declining to say whether there had been any casualties among tribesmen.
As of 3pm GMT, the Yemeni army had not issued a statement on the incident.
Yemen has been in a relative state of chaos since the ouster of long-serving president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012.
Yemen's oilfields, a major source of the country's national income, have been repeatedly attacked by armed militants as a means of pressuring authorities to meet their political demands.
By Fouad Mosaad
englishnews@aa.com.tr