Yemeni border guards shoot dead al-Qaeda militants disguised in veils

Three were killed at the Yemini-Saudi border as the militants tried to flee

A Yemeni border guard shot dead three suspected militants wearing women’s veils yesterday as they tried to enter Saudi Arabia with a male driver.

Officials said that one of the disguised men shot and wounded a soldier who attempted to enter the car. The soldier immediately returned fire killing the three militants and injuring their driver.

The driver later confessed that he and his companions were al-Qaeda members who were planning to attack Saudi border guards in a suicide attack.

The car had been asked to go to a police station near the border, to have a policewoman check the occupants’ identities.

According to officials, who spoke anonymously, the driver claimed he was taking his family to visit Saudi Arabia when challenged by border guards.

It is not the first attempt to kill Saudi soldiers at the border. In July this year three al-Qaeda militants were killed by a car bomb and fighting at a separate border post as other gunmen were able to enter the country in two cars.

Saudi Arabia said at the time that its border guards killed three gunmen and arrested another, while one guard member was killed.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen’s local branch, claimed responsibility for those attacks. The US considers the group the most dangerous branch of the terror group in the world and it has been linked to several failed attacks on US soil.

Additional Reporting by AP