"Gunmen travelling in a vehicle fired several rounds towards General Mahmud al-Sobaihi's car near intelligence headquarters in Huta," the capital of Lahj, the official said, adding that the officer escaped "unharmed."

"The general's bodyguards hunted down the assailants and arrested one, who was wounded in the clashes," the official said.

A civilian was also wounded in the fire exchange, according to the official, who did not disclose the motives behind the attack or the identities of the attackers.

Sobaihi commands Al-Anad region, the site of a strategic air base used by US soldiers in the southern Lahj province.

The general's troops have played a major role in an anti-Qaeda offensive that ended the control in June of Al-Qaeda militants on a string of towns and cities which they had held across the south for a year.

Although weakened, the network's militants continue to launch hit-and-run attacks on members of the security forces across Yemen.