Aden: At least 32 Yemini soldiers were killed when militants linked to al-Qaida stormed a military position in southern Yemen where militants control broad swathes of territory, media reported on Monday.
The military official told media that gunmen attacked Yemeni troops outside the city of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, killing at least 32 servicemen.
“They had captured a number of soldiers and made off with weapons and ammunition,” he added.
At least 40 soldiers were wounded in the attack, the official and medical sources said.
A spokesman for Ansar al-Sharia, an al Qaeda-linked group that seized Zinjibar last year, said his side had captured 28 soldiers and a tank in the raid.
Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) said the latest raid was a response to recent statements by Hadi that he would defeat the militants, who have been emboldened by more than a year of political upheaval.
Yemen has a seen a surge in violence in the south since President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office in February, prompting the government to respond with air strikes and the United States with drones that target militants.
Monday’s attack came hours after a suspected U.S. drone strike killed two men in a neighboring province, including one the government described as a senior member of al Qaeda.
It is to be mentioned here that in a similar attack in March, militants killed about 185 troops in Zinjibar after Hadi took office.
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