About 100 U.S. commandos, including Green Berets and Navy Seals, have been ordered to evacuate Yemen, NBC News reports. Al Qaeda fighters captured the capital of a southern Yemen province on Friday, while elsewhere ISIS suicide bombers attacked mosques in Sanaa.

The American troops have been training the Yemeni military in counter-terrorism operations. According to NBC News, they have not engaged the militants in combat directly.

Yemeni military and security officials told The Associated Press that Special Forces commandos were leaving the al-Annand air base near the southern city of al-Houta; they did not say whether the U.S. forces had left the country entirely.

From the AP:

Al-Qaida militants took al-Houta on Friday. Their offensive comes as Shiite rebels hold the capital and nine of Yemen's 21 provinces.

After this week's increase in sectarian violence, a source told NBC News that it was too dangerous for the U.S. Special Operations Forces to remain where they were. "The threat is too high," the source said. "Why take the risk?"

Image via AP. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.