Updated

Yemeni security officials say al-Qaida militants have attacked an airport in the country's south and bombed the facility's air control tower.

The officials say the coordinated attack on the Sayoun airport in the southern province of Hadramawt started from three different directions early on Thursday.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media. There were no immediate details on casualties.

The attack came just hours after security forces arrested a number of suspected militants in the same town, known for a strong presence of al-Qaida militants.

Washington considers Yemen's al-Qaida branch as the terror group's most dangerous offshoot.