Two armed terrorists holding French citizenship have been captured by Yemen's special security forces in the southeastern province of Hadramout, a local official said on Friday.

"Special security troops detained two terrorists of Tunisian origin but holding French citizenship and identified as Mourad Abdullah and Taha al-Esawi in Hadramout late on Thursday night," the official said.

"The police moved after receiving information from intelligence officers at Hadramout's airport ... the French terrorists were attempting to escape through the airport but they failed," the official added.

Initial investigations showed that "they were involving in an al-Qaida terrorist cell and participated in several terrorism activities in Hadramout province."

Meanwhile, the state-run Saba News Agency reported that "army soldiers have killed Temor al-Dagestani, an al-Qaida explosive expert and bomb maker, during the fighting in Shabwa."

A local Saudi commander of the al-Qaida terrorist group named Turki Abdul-Rahman was also killed by the army in Shabwa, Saba said.

The Yemeni armed forces, backed by mechanized battalions, air force and special forces, have killed, wounded and captured dozens of local and foreign suspected al-Qaida militants during the offensives that started two weeks ago.

Commanders of the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have vowed to hit back.

The AQAP, known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, emerged in January 2009. It is considered the most strategic threat to the Yemeni government and neighboring oil-rich Saudi Arabia. Endi

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