Suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen killed 12 Yemeni soldiers and a civilian earlier today in a southern province where troops have been battling the militants since late April, a security official said.
The militants attacked a checkpoint near the Shabwa province village of Bayhan with sophisticated assault weapons.
The army has been engaged in a major ground offensive against Al-Qaeda in Shabwa and neighbouring Abyan province in a bid to expel it from smaller towns and villages.
