Yemen: Al-Qaeda operatives have killed '50 security agents'

Policemen stop cars near the British embassy in Sanaa after a rocket attack targeted a vehicle carrying the deputy chief of the British mission in Yemen October 6, 2010

Sanaa, 7 Oct. (AKI) - Fifty high-ranking security agents have been killed by Al-Qaeda insurgents so far this year, according to Yemeni web site Barakish, which cited an unnamed interior ministry source.

The source confirmed that Al-Qaeda was behind Wednesday's rocket attack on a convoy that failed to harm Britain’s number-two diplomat in Yemen.

Also on Wednesday, a Yemeni security guard shot dead a Frenchman contracted to the Austrian oil and gas company OMV, the company said.

A British national was also injured in the attack outside the capital and taken to hospital.

Armed militants on Sunday bombed the residence of Yemeni prime minister Mohammad Ali Majur. The attack caused little damage and no injuries, while the militants escaped, according to the report by Arabic website Elaph.

The violence has cast doubt on the effectiveness of the interim government's US-backed campaign against Al-Qaeda militants. The militants who have found a haven in parts of the rugged, mountainous country where the central government's control is weak.

Yemen currently faces two insurgencies. Since 2005 separatist rebels in the north known as the Al-Houthis have been fighting government forces, while Al-Qaeda and tribal militants have launched a series of attacks in the south.