30 Yemeni soldiers were killed in two separate attacks by al Qaeda Thirty Yemeni soldiers were killed in two separate attacks by the al Qaeda-affiliated Ansar al-Sharia (Supporters of Islamic Law) group early on Saturday, as members of parliament called for a withdrawal of confidence from defence minister Mohamed Nasser Ali due to his ministry failure's in facing al-Qaeda attacks.  
Yemeni military sources told Arabstoday that Islamist militants stormed a military checkpoint in southern Yemen early on Saturday located on the road linking the southern provinces of Lahej and Abyan.
Meanwhile, a source from the al-Qaeda-linked group told Arabstoday that militants had killed 30 soldiers. The group called the attack “the raid of dignity” on the al-Hurur military checkpoint in Abyan.
According to the group’s sources the attack came in response to the rape of an old woman by the checkpoint’s soldiers.
Local sources said that Yemeni war planes then bombarded the site, forcing some of the militants to retreat towards their main stronghold in the city of Jaar, taking with them two tanks and other equipment.
Residents said the army had begun distributing machine-guns among them so they could help beat back the militants.
Separately, unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on the deputy head of Lahej province's security services, wounding him, an official said.
Islamist militants have stepped up their attacks in Yemen, targeting the army since President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi took office last month vowing to fight al-Qaeda's regional wing.
In their deadliest attack yet, militants killed at least 110 soldiers and took dozens hostage earlier this month in the Abyan provincial capital, Zinjibar. That followed a suicide bomb that killed some 26 people on the day Hadi was sworn in as president in February.