Three al-Qaida suspects killed after escaping Yemeni prison

Three al-Qaida suspects killed after escaping Yemeni prison

2011-06-24 05:28:42 GMT+7 (ICT)

SANAA, YEMEN (BNO NEWS) -- At least three al-Qaida members were killed on Wednesday when 62 prisoners escaped from their jail in southern Yemen, the Interior Ministry reported on Thursday.

The Yemen Post reported that three prisoners were killed and two arrested when authorities tried to thwart the escape. A hunt was launched for the other prisoners that escaped during the prison break that took place at the central security prison in the southern city of Mukalla.

"The prisoners, including those who had been sentenced to jail terms and others under trial, killed one of the jail guards," the ministry said.

A panel was formed immediately to investigate the escape, the ministry added, urging the people to cooperate with the authorities and report to them information about any of those who escaped.

Most of the 62 prisoners that managed to escape were serving sentences of over five years in prison on charges relating to terrorism. Wednesday's incident is considered to be the biggest prison breakout of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) members.

Opposition parties said that the breakout was facilitated by senior military officials with close ties to embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh. They alleged that the plot was intended to cause further chaos in the south in order to get more U.S. support, apparently in an attempt to prove that the ongoing crackdown on anti-government protesters is justified.

In May, authorities informed that AQAP militants were taking advantage of the unrest in the country to perpetrate terrorist acts; mostly in the southern region. AQAP is based primarily in the tribal areas outside of the capital city Sana'a, which remains outside the control of the Yemeni government. The terrorist organization has orchestrated high-profile attacks since 2009.

Most notably, AQAP sent Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who attempted to detonate an explosive device aboard a Northwest Airlines flight on December 25, 2009. This was the first attempted U.S. homeland attack by an al-Qaeda affiliate since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

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