Suspected al-Qaida gunmen ambushed an army convoy in Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramout on Friday night, killing 14 soldiers and beheading them all after their capture, a government official told Xinhua.

"The victims were part of a 14-member military convoy in Shibam town of Hadramout province that was attacked late today by suspected al-Qaida militants driving four four-wheel-drive pick- ups," the local government official said on condition of anonymity.

"The suspected al-Qaida gunmen cut off the heads of all the soldiers who were killed," he said, adding that the dead soldiers' bodies had been recovered.

Local residents near the scene confirmed to Xinhua that "some of them were killed by shooting, but most of them were executed after their capture."

On Thursday, Yemeni army soldiers have killed seven gunmen belonging to al-Qaida elements in a checkpoint near the headquarters of the 1st Regional Military Command in Hadramout province after an exchange of gunfire with several attackers.

Since April the Yemeni government has waged a wide-scale offensive on al-Qaida strongholds in the country's southern territories, killing scores of militants. The al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) based in Yemen has vowed to hit back.

AQAP, also known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, emerged in January 2009 and is considered one of the greatest threats to the Yemeni government and neighboring oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

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