Two killed, 18 injured in Yemen attack: source

SANAA (Reuters) - Two people were killed and at least 18 others injured when a car was rammed into a police station in Yemen's Hadramout province early on Friday, a security source said.

The driver tried to enter the police complex but was stopped at the gate, after which the car exploded, killing the attacker and a police guard, the source said.

Twelve policemen and six women were also injured, he added.

Al Arabiya television earlier reported that the blast had wounded 20 people and caused damage to some buildings in the area and power outage.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The Hadramout region was the scene of an attack by gunmen who opened fire, killing two Belgian tourists in Shibam this year. The government at the time believed al Qaeda was behind the attack and had later arrested suspects.

Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, is grappling with a campaign by al Qaeda militants, who have said they were behind several attacks in recent months, including a shelling near the U.S. embassy and a mortar attack on a refinery in Aden.

The government has also been fighting Shi'ite rebels loyal to Abdul-Malik al-Houthi in the northern province of Saada since 2004, a battle which President Ali Abdullah Saleh said last week had ended.

(Reporting by Mohamed Mukhashef, Writing by Ola Galal)