Fighters suspected of being associated with al-Qaeda have fired rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machineguns at a military base in southern Yemen, killing two soldiers guarding its gate, a senior military official has said.

Brig. Gen. Mohammed Abdullah, commander of the army's 115th Brigade said that one of the attackers, a Saudi national, was killed in Saturday morning's attack on his unit's base in the southern town of Lawder in Abyan province, the Associated Press news agency reported.

The general also said that two Yemeni nationals were arrested.

Yemen's al-Qaeda branch, also known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is considered by the US to be the group's most dangerous offshoot.

The group seized large swaths of southern Yemen after the country's 2011 uprising.

A US-backed military offensive later drove fighters out of main cities and towns, but they are accused of staging frequent attacks.

Associated Press