As many as 13 Yemeni local officials and pro-government armed tribesmen were killed overnight in two separated suicide attacks by al-Qaida militants in the southern flashpoint province of Abyan, a provincial official told Xinhua on Sunday.

One of the suicide bombers blew his bobby-trapped vehicle at a checkpoint set up by tribesmen fighting alongside the government troops in Arqoup area in eastern al-Qaida-seized Zinjibar city, killing nine armed tribesmen and himself and injuring others.

The second attack occurred in Moudiyah city, where the suicide bomber set off his explosive belt, killing himself along with four others, including a leading local leader of the ruling party.