Yemen: 12 killed in militant attack in south

A Yemeni security official says al-Qaida militants attacked a checkpoint in a southern city, killing four troops and losing eight of their own in the firefight.

The official says militants in pickup trucks assaulted the security post in the outskirts of the port city of Aden on Saturday. He says one security force member and three al-Qaida fighters were wounded.

In a separate incident, another official says that militants kidnapped a senior intelligence officer and two soldiers in the town of Radda south of the capital Sanaa.

Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the press.

Al-Qaida took control of swaths of south Yemen during last year's political upheaval.