Security: At least 15 dead in al-Qaeda assault on Yemen city

Dozens of suspected al-Qaeda militants launched a night-time assault on one of southeastern Yemen's main cities sparking fierce fighting that killed at least 15 people, security sources said on Saturday.

They attacked army bases and public buildings in Seiyun, second city of Hadramawt province, with car bombs, rocket-launchers and heavy machineguns, the sources said.

The regional military headquarters, the special forces base and the main police station were all targeted, along with local government offices and banks.

During the attack, the city's eletricity supply was cut, and residents said they heard explosions and gunfire before the militants withdrew in the early morning hours, Reuters reported.

"The city is now under the control of the state," Gen. Mohamed al-Sawmali was quoted by the Yemeni Defense Ministry's 26 September news site as saying.

The assault in Hadramawt, an opposition stronghold that has seen large-scale attacks on the army in the past, came as troops pressed a month-old ground offensive against al-Qaeda in Abyan and Shabwa provinces to the west.

Bordering major oil producer Saudi Arabia, western interests are concerned the group could use Yemen as a base for attacks that would have international ramifications.

Since the launch of their offensive in April, Security forces have been on high alert for al-Qaeda reprisals, particularly in the capital Sanaa.

The Yemeni al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), took advantage of a 2011 uprising in the country that forced veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh from power to seize large swathes of the south and east.

The army recaptured several major towns in 2012 but has struggled to reassert control in rural areas despite recruiting militia allies among the local tribes.

The central government is also facing down opposition from southern secessionists and northern Houthi rebels.