Qaeda militants seize army HQ in Yemen port city
Army troops and security forces have cordoned off the entire area
ADEN, Sept 30, 2013 (AFP) -Al-Qaeda militants seized army headquarters in Yemeni port city Mukalla Monday, killing two soldiers and taking many more hostage, in their second major assault in 10 days, military officials said.
Militants from Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sharia stormed the seaside base after a suicide bomber rammed a car into the entrance, a military official said.
The militants, who were dressed in special forces uniforms and drew up in four military vehicles, then took much of the garrison hostage, the official said.
The commander of the army's second military region, General Muhsen Hasan, thought initially to have been captured, was outside the building at the time of the attack, another official said.
A third official “Army troops and security forces have cordoned off the entire area,” he said.
The three-storey headquarters is built on a cliff, on the eastern edge of Mukalla. An army base is located across the road.
“We cannot determine the number of the assailants, nor the number of personnel who are inside,” said a military officer, adding that contact with some officers held inside was lost around 2:00 pm (1100 GMT).
Mukalla is capital of Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramawt and a major port city.