103 Yemen troops killed in clashes

More than 100 Yemeni soldiers have been killed in clashes with suspected Al Qaeda gunmen after the extremists attacked military positions in Yemen's restive south, medics said on Monday.

Sunday's assault was one of the single deadliest against Yemeni troops, and the latest in a spate of attacks against security forces since President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi pledged to destroy the militant group in last month's inauguration speech.

A medical official at the military hospital in the southern port city of Aden, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said "the death toll... has risen to at least 103" soldiers.

He said "many soldiers died from wounds sustained in the assault" on army posts on the outskirts of Zinjibar, Abyan's provincial capital where Al Qaeda linked militants are in control.

A military official, who also declined to be identified, told AFP Al Qaeda militants were responsible for the "surprise attack," saying "it was a massacre."

Another medic said hospital staff were overwhelmed by the number of casualties.

"We were forced to use administrative offices and waiting rooms to treat the wounded," he told AFP, declining to be named. "The hospital was packed full with dead and injured" soldiers.

Military officials had reported fierce clashes ON Sunday when suspected Al Qaeda militants tried to overrun an army post in Kud, just south of Zinjibar. The violence then spread to other military positions on the outskirts of the city.

At least 25 Al Qaeda gunmen were killed in Sunday's fighting and several others wounded, a local official from the nearby militant stronghold of Jaar told AFP.

He said that at least 56 soldiers were captured by Al Qaeda, including seven army officers and 10 wounded soldiers.

The militants, known in Yemen as the Partisans of Sharia, took control of Zinjibar and several other towns in Yemen's south last May as former president Ali Abdullah Saleh faced mass protests demanding his ouster.

The military official, who was on the ground during Sunday's attack, said that troops from the Kud base were "surprised" to see the militants carrying army issue weapons and using military vehicles.

Soldiers who survived the attack accused some army leaders who had served under Saleh of "collaborating" with Al Qaeda.

The violence highlights the security challenges facing Yemen's new president as he tries to restore order in troubled regions and unify the country's armed forces, as stipulated by a Gulf-brokered transition accord that ended Saleh's 33-year rule over Yemen.

On Friday, Hadi, who will lead Yemen for an interim two-year period, named General Salem Ali Qatan to head the 31st Armoured Brigade in southern Yemen, replacing Saleh loyalist General Mahdi Maqola.

The appointment was one of the first steps taken by Hadi as head of the newly formed military commission in charge of restructuring the country's divided security forces.

Some of Yemen's most powerful army units, including the Republican Guard troops, are commanded by Saleh's closest aides, including his son and nephew.

The 1st armoured brigade, a powerful unit commanded by General Ali Mohsen Al Ahmar, last year joined the mass protests against Saleh's regime that erupted in January of 2011.

Hadi has not formally commented on the latest violence, but a military commission statement said that "the nation, its people, and its armed forces... are capable of overcoming the challenges imposed by" Al Qaeda.

Yemeni political analyst Majed Al Mabjahi argued on Monday that the suspected Al Qaeda assault was "a show of force" by the extremist group.

"Given the new political environment, and the fear of impending attacks" by the new government, Al Qaeda wants to demonstrate that any attempt to destroy the group would "come at a high cost."

In his February 25 inaugural speech, Hadi vowed to fight Al-Qaeda and restore security across his impoverished nation.

"It is a patriotic and religious duty to continue the battle against Al Qaeda," he said. "If we don't restore security, the only outcome will be chaos."

Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a presidential palace in southeast Yemen that killed 26 elite troops, on Hadi's inauguration day.

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