MOST ATTACKERS ‘WIPED OUT’

“The attackers have exploited some construction work there to carry out this criminal act. ... The situation is under control,” the Yemeni Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The construction work was taking place near the ministry’s compound hospital facility, the statement said.

The ministry said that most of the gunmen were “wiped out” in the ensuing battle, but it added that two had escaped into a nearby building, where they were pursued by security forces.

Security in Yemen is an international concern. The US-allied country shares a long border with Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, and is home to one of the most active branches of al-Qaida that has plotted attacks against Western targets.

Violence is common in Yemen, where an interim government is grappling with southern secessionists, al-Qaida-linked militants and northern Houthi rebels, as well as severe economic problems inherited from former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Islamist insurgents were emboldened by a decline in government control over the country during protests that eventually ousted Saleh.

They seized several southern cities before being driven out in 2012 in a government offensive aided by US drone strikes.