Sana'a, Yemen  - Four soldiers were wounded in a clash with armed tribesmen in the north-western Yemeni province of Amran on Thursday, local sources said.

The sources said the shootout broke out after security forces tried to capture gunmen besieging a local government building in the Harf Sufian district of Amran.

Harf Sufian, about 150 kilometres north-west of the capital Sana'a, is on the main road linking Sana'a with the restive Saada province where skirmishes between the army and Shiite rebels have been raging on and off since 2004.

It was not immediately clear whether the gunmen were members of the Shiite rebel group.

Armed clashes between tribesmen and government forces are not unusual in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country where tribes are heavily armed. (dpa)