Sanaa, May 12 (RHC)-- The U.S. State Department says U.S. operatives in Yemen have killed two people in a failed kidnap attempt. A Special Operations commander and a CIA officer were apparently getting haircuts in the capital Sanaa last month when two armed militants tried to take them into captivity. It is unclear what the American operatives were doing in Yemen, but they’ve since left the country.

A spate of violence continued Sunday when a suicide bomber killed at least 10 Yemeni soldiers in a southern city. The attack was in apparent retaliation for a massive Yemeni campaign that has killed dozens of alleged al-Qaeda fighters in recent weeks. Earlier today, an apparent U.S. drone strike killed at least five alleged militants in eastern Yemen.