18 soldiers were killed and four wounded by suspected al-Qaeda militants in an attack on an army checkpoint in southeastern Yemen on Friday, an army official said.
The soldiers were ambushed as they were having lunch in a desert area near the city of Shibam, in the eastern province of Hadramout, residents said. The army official said the gunmen were likely to be al-Qaeda militants.
State news agency Saba put the death toll at 18 soldiers in what it described as “a cowardly terrorist act” in Shibam.