SAN’A, Yemen (AP) – Gunmen believed to be Islamic militants opened fire on a tourist convoy in eastern Yemen on Friday, killing two Belgians and wounding four others, security officials said.

The tourists were in a convoy of at least five vehicles travelling through a desert valley called Wadi Daw’an in the eastern Hadramut region when the gunmen attacked, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

The officials said the attackers were believed to be Islamic militants hiding in the valley.

Two Belgians were killed and four other Belgians wounded, the officials said.

Tourists often visit the Wadi Daw’an to see Shibam, a historic town of mud brick houses, some as many as nine stories high.

In July, a suicide bomber in an explosives-packed car attacked tourists visiting a temple linked to the ancient Queen of Sheba in central Yemen, killing eight Spaniards and two Yemenis. Yemeni authorities blamed that attack on an al-Qaeda cell.