Two Yemeni government soldiers were killed on Monday in a roadside bomb blast in the country's southern province of Abyan, a military official said.

"The roadside bomb explosion targeted a vehicle of the government's anti-terror troops while they were conducting an operation in the district of Al Mahfid in Abyan," the local military official said on condition of anonymity.

The explosion destroyed the military vehicle and killed two soldiers at the scene and injured five others, according to the official.

"The government forces cancelled the anti-terror operation after the explosion and retreated to their previous site in Al Mahfid," he said.

In November, the Aden-based Southern Transitional Council announced that its military units had launched "a qualitative anti-terror operation" and "succeeded in raiding a key hideout of al-Qaida in Abyan."

Al-Qaida militants hiding out in rocky and mountainous areas of Abyan and other neighboring provinces frequently carry out hit-and-run raids against Yemeni government forces.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula network has exploited years of deadly conflict between the Yemeni government and the Houthi militia to expand its presence in the war-ravaged Arab country.