SANAA - Two of the top security officials in Yemen's eastern province of Wadi Hadramut were killed in an ambush on Tuesday that also took the lives of three other security men, an official said.
"Brigadier General Ali Salem al-Ameri, security chief in Wadi Hadramut, and Ahmed Bawazeir, the head of state security in the area, and three security men were killed in an ambush," the official said.
The attack took place at 3:00 pm (1200 GMT) in the area of Khashm al-Ein, in the district of Al-Abr, in the northwest of Hadramut.
The five were travelling in a single car when they came under a hail of bullets, a witness who was in a car behind them said.
Ameri, who was driving, swerved and collided with a lorry.
"The car went up in flames. The bodies were charred," he added.
The men were returning from a visit to Wadayah, a border crossing into Saudi Arabia, said the witness, who was on the same trip.