Al-Qaeda threat to troops

An al-Qaeda-linked group has demanded the release of militants from Yemeni prisons, threatening to harm 73 soldiers it claims to have captured.

Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) made its demand three days after twin suicide bombings and clashes outside the southern city of Zinjibar killed 110 soldiers.

“The Mujahideen demand the release of their prisoners from the national and political security jails in exchange for saving the lives of 73 soldiers they hold captive in Abyan,” it said in a statement. “In the event of failure to comply, the lives of the soldiers will be in danger,” it added.

Yemen’s interior ministry, meanwhile, said it had foiled a “terrorist plot” involving 300 al-Qaeda fighters who were planning a major attack on government facilities in the city of Mukalla on the Arabian Sea in eastern Yemen.