Summary
Suspected Al-Qaeda militants killed 18 Yemeni soldiers in separate ambushes Tuesday as the army launched a ground offensive against their remaining strongholds in the south, medical and security sources said.
Ten soldiers were also wounded and 15 captured, medics and an officer said.
Commanders are seeking to expel the jihadists from a series of smaller towns and hill districts in Abyan and Shabwa provinces where they retained a presence after a 2012 offensive in which the army recaptured the major towns.
Militants ambushed the army convoy near Al-Saeed, one of several towns in Shabwa province where troops backed by militiamen advanced overnight, an officer said.
The army sent "massive" reinforcements to the area, another officer said.
Hours later, militants in Abyan province ambushed a seven-vehicle convoy advancing towards Wadi Daiqa, where Al-Qaeda suspects were positioned, an officer there said.
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