Major battles erupted overnight in southern Yemen’s Shabwa Province, leaving at least 43 militants dead along with 10 Yemeni soldiers. Scores of others were wounded on both sides.
The fighting in and around the town of Meyfaa overnight was the deadliest, with 37 militants and four soldiers killed. Another six Yemeni soldiers died in a suicide bombing against a checkpoint, which left at least 20 soldiers wounded.
Shabwa and the surrounding area has seen weeks of fighting, as Yemen’s military and allied tribes try to secure control over the area from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and its own allies.
In addition to the fighting in Shabwa overnight, a Yemeni army colonel was also killed by unknown gunmen in the city of Aden, not far down the coast.