At least six civilians, including children, were killed in Yemen on Friday when a roadside bomb believed to be planted by al Qaeda went off in the country's southeast, a Yemeni security official said.

At least six others were wounded in the blast, the second attack in less than a week in al-Qatn village in the vast Hadramaut region

Al Qaeda's local affiliate in Yemen, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has taken advantage of a civil war between the Iran-aligned Houthi group and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's Saudi-backed government to strengthen its position in the impoverished country.

AQAP operates in several provinces in south and eastern Yemen, including in Abyan, Shabwa and al-Bayda.

AFP.