Militants linked to al Qaeda celebrated one of their deadliest attacks on the Yemeni army today, parading military hardware seized after they killed more than 110 soldiers, as the Yemeni president swore to pursue the group with full force.
The militants said they had also captured some 70 soldiers in a raid after suicide bomb attacks on two military posts outside the southern city of Zinjibar yesterday, the most lethal attack since president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office last month.
Residents said militants from the al Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sharia displayed weapons and military vehicles, extolling their "victory" by megaphone in the streets of Jaar, the town that is their stronghold, some 15km north of the Abyan provincial capital of Zinjibar.
"The festivities have been going on since last night, celebrating what they described as gains for Ansar al-Sharia, and they displayed the loot in front of everyone," said one resident who declined to give his name.
At least 20 militants also died in the fighting."We intend to confont terrorism with full force and whatever the matter we will pursue it to the very last hiding place," Mr Hadi said at a meeting with British minister for the Middle East and North Africa Alistair Burt, according to the state news agency Saba.
The violence highlights the challenges mr Hadi faces as he tries to stabilise Yemen after a year of political upheaval that eventually unseated his predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Medics said at least 110 Yemeni soldiers died in the bombings and the subsequent clashes between government forces and militants. A source at the military hospital in Aden, a nearby port city, said bodies were piling up in the morgue. The army said it had sent reinforcements to the area from Aden yesterday and managed to beat the militants back.
"Reinforcements were sent to the area and it was recaptured. Elements of al Qaeda or Ansar al-Sharia took light weapons and three rocket launchers, but the rest of the weapons were recovered," said a spokesman for the council that oversees the running of the army, who put the number of soldiers killed in the fighting at 51.
Agencies