A tribal chief was killed on Saturday in Yemen's southeastern province of al-Bayda when a bomb planted under his car exploded, a government official told Xinhua.

"Mohamed al-Rayami, a high-ranking tribal chief, was killed when a bomb exploded under his car in the main street in al-Bayda province," the local official said on condition of anonymity.

The car bombing also badly wounded his two children, who were with him at the time, the official added.

A local resident confirmed to Xinhua that intense gunfire was heard in the region after the car exploded near a public market.

Yemeni security forces and local military authorities have not yet commented on the incident.

The attack is the latest in a series of bombings and killings targeting senior Yemeni military and security officers and government-backed tribal leaders in the past few months.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack yet, but militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida offshoot are usually behind such attacks and assassination attempts, mostly in the country's southern regions.

The al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which emerged in January 2009, is considered as the most strategic threat to Yemen and its neighbor oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

AQAP claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing attack on Yemen's defense ministry, which left 52 people dead and more than 167 injured earlier this month.