Sanaa, April 24 (IANS): Two policemen were killed early Thursday when suspected Al Qaeda gunmen raided a security outpost in Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramout.

"The police forces repelled the Al Qaeda attack which took place in Hadramout's city of Shibam, but two police personnel were killed in the exchange of fire with the attackers," a military official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Another security source in Hadramout confirmed the incident, saying that "the Al Qaeda attackers fired two rocket-propelled grenades toward a key police checkpoint in Shibam city".

Yemeni security officials said the terrorist attacks were an angry reaction to the multiple US drone strikes Sunday on militant hideouts in the country's southern regions.

On Wednesday, Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi announced that "recent counter-terrorism operations targeted and killed over 60 Al Qaeda-linked militants, including a number of high value targets in Abyan and Shabwa provinces".

Hadi chaired a meeting with the Supreme Security Committee and the Supreme Economic Council, ordering the security personnel and military forces to step up combat readiness and remain vigilant.

In Yemen's southern port city of Aden, a number of armoured army brigades and security bases stepped up security to counter a "most likely Al Qaeda retaliation".

The Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has frequently staged revenge attacks on local targets, including military bases and foreign missions, in the impoverished Arab country.

The AQAP, which emerged in January 2009, is considered the most serious strategic threat to the Yemeni government and neighbouring oil-rich Saudi Arabia.