Suspected al-Qaida militants launched an attack on a security patrol early Thursday, killing at least two policemen and injuring three others in Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramout, a police officer said.

Suspected al-Qaida gunmen on a motorbike opened heavy fire on a security patrol stationed in a coastal road in al-Mukalla city, the provincial capital of Hadramout province, leaving at least two policemen killed and three others injured, the local police officer told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

After the attack, security measures were stepped up in the region, he said, adding that many checkpoints were set up at the entrances to the main city.

Hadramout province, some 794 km southeast of Sanaa, experienced sporadic shoot-outs and motorbike attacks targeting security and intelligence officials during the past few months as government authorities accused al-Qaida militants.

In nearby Abyan province, thousands of militants from the al- Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) captured Zinjibar, the provincial city and at least three other towns late in May.

The Sanaa government has intensified crackdown on the AQAP which was known locally as "Supporters of Sharia (Islamic Law)" since then and reseized Zinjibar in September, according to the defense ministry, but sporadic clashes repeatedly took place there as the terrorist group still occupied part of the city.