Arab Spring alert.

ADEN, Yemen — Dozens of alleged Al-Qaeda gunmen attacked security and government buildings in the southern town of Huta on Wednesday, killing two policeman and wounding five others, Yemeni medics and residents said.

Fierce clashes broke out at dawn between the armed men and police around the local branches of intelligence and central bank, and the courts in the Lahij province town of Huta, before dispersing toward nearby farms, residents said.

A medic at Ibn Khaldun hospital said it received the body of one policeman killed in the attack while six others were hospitalised.

One of those wounded later died in hospital, Lahij governor Ahmed Abdullah al-Majidi told AFP, adding that extra security forces were posted outside public buildings and on the outskirts of town.

The attack raised fears that Huta might fall in the grip of the jihadists after gunmen overran most of the city of Zinjibar in late May.

“There are no police out on the streets. . . The people are very scared,” said local resident Mahmud al-Itri.