Aden, March 5
Al-Qaida militants have overrun an army base in restive southern Yemen, capturing heavy weapons and turning them on soldiers in intense clashes that left over 100 Yemeni soldiers dead.
Yesterday'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 Qaida-linked militants are in control.
A military official, who also declined to be identified, said Qaida militants were responsible for the "surprise attack," saying, "It was a massacre." Another medic said hospital staff was overwhelmed by the number of casualties.
"We were forced to use administrative offices and waiting rooms to treat the wounded," he said, declining to be named. "The hospital was packed full with dead and injured soldiers."
Military officials had reported fierce clashes yesterday when suspected Qaida 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.
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