At least two soldiers and two separatists have been killed in clashes in the southern Yemeni provinces of Lahej and Abyan, security sources said Saturday.

In the restive al-Habileen town of Lahej province, members of the separatist Southern Movement ambushed and burned a police vehicle, killing one soldier and wounding three others late Saturday, the sources told DPA.

Afterwards, clashes erupted between security forces and gunmen believed to be affiliated with the separatist movement on the al-Rabwa mountain that overlooks al-Habileen, the sources said. Two insurgents were killed, they added.

Friday, suspected Al Qaeda militants attacked a police patrol in the Amoudia district of Abyan. A soldier was killed and another was injured in the attack, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the ministry said that an Arab member of Al Qaeda was arrested in the Mukairas district of Abyan.

The suspect, identified as Jabir Ali al-Qaifi, 27, was stopped at a checkpoint as he drove on a motorcycle from the town of Loudar, where security forces killed 18 Al Qaeda suspects in August, the ministry said.