Two al Qaeda militants and a Yemeni soldier were killed on Friday in a raid by security forces on a residential building in the southern city of Dalea, local officials said. There have been a succession of violent incidents in recent months in Dalea, a stronghold for separatists demanding restoration of the former socialist state of south Yemen, which merged with the **rth in 1990. Tackling lawlessness in Yemen, an impoverished Arabian Peninsula state bordering the world's biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia, is an international priority. The United States views Yemen as a front line in its struggle against al Qaeda.