Death toll in Yemen fighting passes 100

Long battle looms with Al Qaeda-linked rebels

SANAA, YEMEN— As the death toll from fighting between troops and Al Qaeda-linked militants in southern Abyan province crossed100, the new Yemeni president vowed Monday to redouble efforts to combat the growing insurgency.

Military leaders met Monday, a day after the militants assaulted an army base outside Zinjibar in Abyan province, using government weapons to target Yemeni forces. Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who took office last month after protests forced out longtime president Ali Abdullah Saleh, said restoring order and combating the southern-based militants is a priority. But his efforts are hampered by an army weakened by anti-saleh defections.

“Yemen can’t just go into Abyan and take back the area with a few troops,” said Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen analyst at Princeton University. “It’s going to take a unified approach from the military.”

Sunday’s assault in Zinjibar marked the deadliest day in a nearly yearlong battle between government forces and the fighters in Abyan. More than 100 soldiers and 32 militants were killed in the fighting, while dozens of Yemeni troops were taken captive and reportedly paraded through the militant-held town of Jaar on Monday. Tensions between pro- Saleh troops and those under a dissident general remain high. Many arms of the military are wracked by mutinies targeting leaders seen as corrupt holdovers from the old regime. Mcclatchy Newspapers