Sunday`s assault was one of the single deadliest against Yemeni troops, and the latest in a spate of attacks against security forces since President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi pledged to destroy the militant group in last month`s inauguration speech.
A medical official at the military hospital in the southern port city of Aden, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said "the death toll... has risen to at least 103" soldiers.
He said "many soldiers died from wounds sustained in the assault" on army posts on the outskirts of Zinjibar, Abyan`s provincial capital where Al-Qaeda linked militants are in control.
A military official, who also declined to be identified, told AFP Al-Qaeda militants were responsible for the "surprise attack," saying "it was a massacre."
Another medic said hospital staff were overwhelmed by the number of casualties.
"We were forced to use administrative offices and waiting rooms to treat the wounded," he told AFP, declining to be named.
"The hospital was packed full with dead and injured" soldiers.
Military officials had reported fierce clashes Sunday when suspected Al-Qaeda militants tried to overrun an army post in Kud, just south of Zinjibar. The violence then spread to other military positions on the outskirts of the city.
At least 25 Al-Qaeda gunmen were killed in Sunday`s fighting and several others wounded, a local official from the nearby militant stronghold of Jaar told AFP.
He said that at least 56 soldiers were captured by Al-Qaeda, including seven army officers and 10 wounded soldiers.
The militants, known in Yemen as the Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law), took control of Zinjibar and several other towns in Yemen`s mostly lawless south last May as former president Ali Abdullah Saleh faced mass protests demanding his ouster. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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