Al-Qaeda says it killed 14 soldiers in Yemen

SANAA (AA) – Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility early on Saturday for late Friday's execution of 14 Yemeni soldiers in the southern province of Hadhramaut. The organization said in a statement that its militants had stopped a bus carrying soldiers in the province, forced the soldiers to get down and then executed them. It said its militants had killed the soldiers because they participated in a campaign against it by the Yemeni army during the last three days.
"The soldiers were taken to a market and then they were killed after a speech was delivered," the organization wrote in its statement.
Al-Qaeda even posted the photos of the soldiers as they were forced to get down of the bus, while their hands were tied behind their backs.
Yemen has been suffering a surge in lawlessness following the downfall in 2012 of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh following protests against his regime.
The government has also been struggling against a Shia insurgency in the north. A Yemeni studies center said in a recent report that as many as 570 troops had been killed in Yemen by the Shia Houthi movement since January 25. The independent Abaad Studies and Research Centre said in its report that around 170 Yemenis had also been killed by Al-Qaeda during the same period of time.
It said around 300 Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants had also been killed in these seven months.
By Maarib al-Ward