Hundreds of Republican Guard forces loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh encircled the Defense Ministry in Sana’a for several hours early Friday, protesting a move to strip the ex-president’s son of part of his military command, officials said.

The officers and soldiers of the country’s best trained force, which has been led by Saleh’s son, Ahmed, rallied at the ministry starting late Thursday. Officials said that military officers had informed them that the force would try to storm the ministry, prompting authorities to deploy tanks and armored vehicles to the area. Government forces threatened to open fire if the protesters didn’t leave. The demonstration ended several hours later.

Meanwhile, a senior security official was killed by a car bomb in the south-eastern city of Mukalla, in a suspected Al-Qaeda attack, a local security official said.

Brigadier Omar Barasheed, dean of the Command and General Staff College, died in hospital after a bomb hidden inside his car exploded, the official told Reuters. His bodyguard was also killed and his son wounded.

The Yemeni official, who asked not to be named, said all signs indicated Al-Qaeda was behind the attack, which happened late Thursday in the capital of Hadramaut province. – Agencies

Investigations into the bombing are ongoing, the Yemeni government said in a statement carried by official news agency Saba.