According to a senior security official, dozens of suspected al Qaeda militants escaped from a jail in the Yemen city of Mukalla. According to sources, 63 members of al Qaeda managed to break out of Almakla prison, out of which 3 were killed, 2 were arrested and a prison guard was killed.

Escapees included already convicted individuals and the ones awaiting trial. The escape was carried out by digging a 35-metre (115-foot) tunnel. There was heavy artillery firing at the prison which was executed by armed militants at about 8 a.m., according to witnesses.

Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh has planned to return in 2 days, who was under treatment in Saudi Arabia after an attack on his compound, which according to Opposition leaders called the news of his return a false rumor. To end Saleh’s rule, Yemen has been consumed by unrest for months of protesters and the government troops have battled both anti-government tribal forces and Islamic militants, including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Christopher Boucek, an associate in the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowmen for International Peace, commented that Yemen government’s control is receding and is interested in only protecting itself from the popular revolt and not going after the al Qaeda.

A Yemini official said that there was no clear idea as to how the escape occurred even after the area was “shut down” and military and police forces were on high alert.

Report by Sumit