Al-Qaeda fighters on Tuesday (January 3rd) ambushed a Yemeni army unit on its way to conduct an operation against an extremist position east of the coastal town of Shaqra in Abyan province, AFP reported.
Local officials said 11 soldiers and 15 al-Qaeda fighters were killed in the attack in the southern province.
Al-Qaeda fighters seized two military vehicles and weapons, security sources said.
Al-Qaeda and its rival, the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL), have taken advantage of chaos in Yemen to reinforce their presence in the country.
