( CNN ) -- Suspected members of al Qaeda 's Yemen wing ambushed an army vehicle on Friday and killed at least five soldiers , a government official told CNN . The incident took place in Marib province , in the western section of the country . Three other soldiers were injured in the ambush , conducted by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula , also known as AQAP . Yemen 's government is unpopular among many citizens , and it has been facing a lot of street opposition in recent months , but it has been a U.S. ally in the fight against militants -- most prominently AQAP . In December , John Brennan , the administration 's top counterterrorism adviser , said AQAP posed a greater threat to Americans than the bin Laden group based in Pakistan . Speaking at a forum at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , he said AQAP was `` increasingly active '' in reaching out to find terrorist recruits , even in the United States . One of the key figures in the group is Anwar Al-Awlaki , the American-born radical Muslim cleric who moved to Yemen and has become a key figure in AQAP . A U.S. drone strike recently attempted but failed to kill al-Awlaki . This came after the U.S. military swooped into a compound in Abbottabad , Pakistan on May 2 , and killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden . Al-Awlaki has been linked to the suspect in the Fort Hood massacre of 13 people in 2009 , as well as the suspect in the 2009 Christmas Day `` underwear bombing '' attempt in which a man allegedly tried to detonate an explosive device sewn into his underwear as his flight headed toward Detroit . CNN 's Mohammed Jamjoom contributed to this report .
The incident took place in Marib province . AQAP recently was called more dangerous than bin Laden 's Pakistan group . The United States tried but failed to take out al-Awlaki in a drone strike .