In Yemen, three al-Qaeda militants, including a senior leader of the group, have been killed in clashes in the southern province of Shabwa. Officials said the attackers fired machine guns and rockets at the soldiers, who were posted near a foreign oil company, east of Ataq. The three militants were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire. In a statement, Yemen's defence ministry said the dead included al-Qaeda commander Zayed al-Daghari. They were believed to have been behind a night-time ambush in which five Yemeni soldiers died last week.