Al-Qaeda launched simultaneous attacks on two army positions in southeastern Yemen today that left 12 soldiers and 19 jihadists dead, an army officer said.
The attacks targeted army positions near the town of Shibam and in Wadi Sir, both in Hadramawt province, a stronghold of Al-Qaeda whose militants control its capital Mukalla.
Known as the "Manhattan of the Desert" for its high-rise mud-brick buildings, Shibam is a UNESCO world heritage site.
