Coordinated attacks by al-Qaeda militants in a southern province have killed at least 38 soldiers and wounded dozens, a Yemeni military official says. The attacks took place at dawn today in Shabwa province, Maj. Raed Mohammed Nasser says; the militants, taking advantage of heavy fog, surprised the troops in barracks in bases in the Maysaa and Kamp areas.
Heavy clashes are still reportedly underway near a third military encampment, in the al-Ain area, where militants detonated a car bomb outside the barracks. Nasser tells the AP that eight militants have also died in the fighting so far. Yemeni authorities are leading a war against al-Qaeda's local branch, considered by Washington as one of the world's most dangerous terror groups. (More al-Qaeda stories.)