Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh was wounded on Friday along with his premier and other officials as shells struck a mosque in the presidential palace compound, a security official told AFP.

However, four officers of the elite Republican Guard were killed when two shells crashed into the mosque, the official said.

Saleh himself "was lightly wounded in the attack" on the palace mosque in Sanaa, a security official said. The extent of Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Mujawar's injuries were not immediately clear.

In an assurance to the Yemeni public, state television later said that the president was "well."

A source close to the presidency told AFP that Yemen's deputy prime minister for defence and security, General Rashad al-Alimi was "critically wounded and hospitalised."

A Yemeni government official told Reuters that Saleh is to address the nation shortly.