Yemeni president vows to fight al-Qaida

SANAA, Yemen, March 6 (UPI) -- Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi vowed to drive out al-Qaida as the death toll from a militant attack in his home province of Abyan mounted.

"We are unwaveringly resolved to keep the fight against al-Qaida and we will chase them to every cache until they are eradicated, no matter what the cost is going to be," Hadi said Monday.

The Yemen Post said the comments came a day after an ambush by militants, linked to a branch of al-Qaida, on a military post in Abyan province in southern Yemen, killed dozens.

The New York Times, quoting government spokesman Mohammed Albasha, reported at least 90 soldiers died in the attack on the military base on a road between Aden and Zinjibar, capital of Abyan, which has been the scene of fighting between militants and security forces for months.

Eighty-two soldiers and 26 al-Qaida rebel fighters have died in clashes in southern Yemen in the past two days, officials told the Abu Dhabi daily The National. The violence occurred when al-Qaida took control of the military base, destroyed tanks and captured more than 51 soldiers, the newspaper said Tuesday.

The report quoted an unnamed security official as saying at least six of the rebels were from other countries including Saudi Arabia and Somalia.

The security official blamed Mahdi Makwalah, the former military commander in the area accused of helping al-Qaida affiliates.