Unknown gunmen on Friday broke into a prison in Yemen's southeastern province of Shabwa, killing one solider and setting free seven al-Qaida inmates, a government official told Xinhua.

"The central prison in Shabwa province was attacked by a group of gunmen earlier in the day, which left one soldier killed and two others critically injured," the local government official said on condition of anonymity.

He said that seven inmates belong to the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch who had been sentenced to death managed to flee during the confusion that followed the invasion.

Police and soldiers were quickly mobilized to the prison, but the attackers had already escaped along with the prisoners before their arrival, according to the source.

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which emerged in January 2009 and also known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, had claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Yemen's army and government institutions.

Security deteriorated since September last year when the Shiite Houthi group, based in the country's northern province of Saada, took over control of the capital Sanaa after week-long deadly clashes.

Yemen's president and cabinet submitted resignations in January amid standoff with the Houthi group, which observers said created power vacuum that would benefit the AQAP in the southern regions.

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