( CNN ) -- More violence from suspected al Qaeda militants in Yemen continued Sunday in two separate attacks . At least 13 Yemeni soldiers were killed and nine others were injured when the militants ambushed a military police headquarters in the southern Yemeni province of Hadramout , two Interior Ministry officials told CNN . The attackers `` easily escaped , '' said Ali BaNajjar , who witnessed the ambush in Hadramout . A second attack occurred close to a checkpoint near the Yemeni presidential palace in the capital , Sanaa , according the government officials . Several militants were killed , said Mohammed al-Qayedi , a spokesman for the Interior Ministry . It 's not the first time militants have targeted Sanaa security forces . On Friday , nearly 20 gunmen attacked the political security headquarters in the capital and killed four troops and injured at least four others at a checkpoint . Three attackers were killed , while the others fled unharmed . The violence seems in line with a promise a senior al Qaeda operative made last week -- that the organization was going to bring bloodshed to Sanaa . Al Qaeda appears to be making good on its threat , one Yemen-based analyst told CNN . `` After al Qaeda threatened to move the fight to the main cities , attacks against foreigners and Yemeni forces in Sanaa more than tripled compar ( ed ) to a month before , '' said AbdulSalam Mohammed , president of the Sanaa-based Abaad Strategic Center . `` Troops need to be on high alert if they have a chance to defeat the militants . '' The Defense Ministry Sunday said that tens of al-Qaeda militants were killed over the last two days , among them many foreign fighters . On Saturday , CNN reported that a Yemeni government official said two al Qaeda gunmen tried to kidnap two U.S. Embassy workers on April 24 . The attackers were part of the terrorist group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula , or AQAP , the official said . The shooting that stopped them happened near a Yemeni barbershop `` where many foreigners and diplomats go to get their hair cut , '' the Yemeni official said . Of all al Qaeda-affiliated networks worldwide , AQAP is considered the most dangerous threat to Americans . The two U.S. Embassy personnel were apparently not supposed to be near the barbershop , the official said . `` These individuals violated security protocol , '' the Yemeni official said . `` U.S. Embassy personnel are not allowed to leave their secure facilities . The American who shot the kidnappers had a gun permit and was authorized to carry a gun . The two armed kidnappers were AQAP militants . They were n't unarmed civilians . '' Marie Harf , deputy spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department , confirmed the incident in a statement . `` Two U.S. Embassy officers in Yemen fired their weapons after being confronted by armed individuals in an attempted kidnapping at a small commercial business in Sanaa , '' the statement read . `` Two of the armed individuals were killed . The Embassy officers are no longer in Yemen . '' The revelation of the incident comes after the U.S. Embassy in Yemen was closed indefinitely Wednesday amid security concerns and as fighting between security forces and AQAP intensified . Just days before the abduction attempt , a joint U.S.-Yemeni operation was being carried out against AQAP in the Abyan and Shabwa regions of Yemen . Authorities did not disclose whether drones were used in the strikes . The use of the unmanned drones has stirred controversy because the drones have killed civilians , a high-level Yemeni official has said . A top Yemeni Interior Ministry official said the U.S. government had considered closing the embassy two weeks ago , as attacks on foreigners intensified . The violence near the barbershop , and violence against other foreigners in the past six weeks , persuaded Americans to close down the U.S. Embassy this past week , the official said . Hakim Almasmari reported from Yemen . CNN 's Elise Labott contributed to this report .
Yemen : Suspected al Qaeda militants launched two attacks in Yemen Sunday . NEW : One of the attacks occurred at a checkpoint near the presidential palace . Two al Qaeda suspects tried in April to abduct the U.S. Embassy staff . One of the attackers had a gun and shot both assailants .