ADEN:More than 100 Yemeni soldiers have been killed in clashes with suspected al-Qaida gunmen after the extremists attacked military positions in Yemen's restive south, medics said today.
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 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 yesterday when suspected al-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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