A car bomb struck the convoy of a Yemeni southern military commander in Abyan province, killing two soldiers and seriously injuring two others on Tuesday, a military official said.

Brigadier General Abdul Latif al-Sayed survived the assassination attempt, said Mohammed al-Naqib, spokesman for the Southern Armed Forces. He said two assailants were killed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack that was also confirmed by residents and medical sources.

Instability in the south complicates UN-led efforts to end the seven-year-old Yemen conflict. The UN special envoy is holding talks with Yemeni parties to build a framework for political negotiations.

Al-Sayed is the commander in Abyan of the Security Belt, the military forces of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC).

The STC is reportedly a part of the Arab Coalition which intervened in Yemen to establish political stability after the Iran-backed Houthi movement ousted the government from the capital, Sanaa.

But STC has vied with the internationally recognized government for control of Aden and Yemen’s wider south.

Last October, Aden’s governor, who is an STC member, survived a car bomb in the port city that killed six people.

The political instability in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed millions to the brink of famine.