Around 1,200 prisoners, including Al-Qaeda suspects, escaped during clashes at a jail in central Yemen on Tuesday, officials said.
The incident is the biggest in a series of prison breaks that have freed Yemeni militants in recent years and signals the further erosion of the state amid a raging civil war.
"Groups of al Qaeda supporters ... today attacked the central prison in the city of Taiz and more than 1,200 of the dangerous prisoners escaped," state news agency Saba quoted a security official as saying.
Another local official told Reuters some of the escapees were "suspected of belonging to al Qaeda" but said they left amid heavy clashes between warring militias in the city.
Shi'ite Muslim Houthi fighters entered Taiz in March, in a southward push from their base in the capital Sanaa that drew military intervention from a Saudi Arabian-led coalition.
But three months of air strikes have yet to push back the group and units in Yemen's army that are loyal to Houthi ally Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country's ex-president.
The security official said army forces linked to Saleh allowed the prisoners to escape as the militiamen, dubbed "popular committees" by their supporters, advanced.
"Heavy fighting took place near the central prison and the popular committees approached and seized control of the area, but Saleh's forces opened the prison doors," the official said.
Another group of al Qaeda militants escaped from a prison in the eastern city of Mukalla in April after army forces suddenly quit the city.
Al Qaeda and other hardline Sunni groups condemn the Houthis as apostates worthy of death, and the two groups are fighting each other in several areas in central Yemen.
Antara News
Wed Jul 01 2015
![Around 1,200 escape from Yemen prison, including Al-Qaeda suspects Around 1,200 escape from Yemen prison, including Al-Qaeda suspects](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2015-06/41435320901_BEHINDBARS.jpg)
Around 1,200 prisoners, including Al-Qaeda suspects, escaped during clashes at a jail in central Yemen on Tuesday, officials said.
![Pemecatan Srettha sebagai PM Thailand mengejutkan - Pemerhati politik Pemecatan Srettha sebagai PM Thailand mengejutkan - Pemerhati politik](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/41723628910_TBSretthaThavisin.jpg)
Pemecatan Srettha sebagai PM Thailand mengejutkan - Pemerhati politik
Pertempuran antara ideologi parti rakyat dan parti-parti gabungan semasa akan menjadi semakin sengit.
![MCMC bakal lancar Kempen Kesedaran Keselamatan Dalam Talian - Teo MCMC bakal lancar Kempen Kesedaran Keselamatan Dalam Talian - Teo](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-06/61719727105_TeoNieChing.jpg)
MCMC bakal lancar Kempen Kesedaran Keselamatan Dalam Talian - Teo
Kementerian Komunikasi melalui Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (MCMC) bakal melancarkan Kempen Kesedaran Keselamatan Dalam Talian yang komprehensif dalam masa terdekat.
![Nenggiri miliki potensi jadi destinasi ekopelancongan Nenggiri miliki potensi jadi destinasi ekopelancongan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/41723703023_DunNenggiriekope.jpg)
Nenggiri miliki potensi jadi destinasi ekopelancongan
Pemandangan suasana pergunungan dalam kawasan Nenggiri yang dihiasi landskap menarik sering mengundang kunjungan pelawat untuk menikmati keindahannya, kata Malim Gunung Mohamad Saifful Rizal Jusoh.
![Pemenang emas Olimpik Indonesia Rizki Juniansyah ditawar kerja kerajaan Pemenang emas Olimpik Indonesia Rizki Juniansyah ditawar kerja kerajaan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/61723726414_TBRizkiJuniansyah.jpg)
Pemenang emas Olimpik Indonesia Rizki Juniansyah ditawar kerja kerajaan
Rizki Juniansyah, yang memenangi pingat emas dalam acara angkat berat 73kg lelaki di Sukan Olimpik Paris 2024 telah menerima tawaran pekerjaan daripada Kementerian Belia dan Sukan Indonesia.
![Rusia kosongkan lebih banyak kawasan di Kursk berikutan pencerobohan Ukraine Rusia kosongkan lebih banyak kawasan di Kursk berikutan pencerobohan Ukraine](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/61723726901_TBMissile.jpg)
Rusia kosongkan lebih banyak kawasan di Kursk berikutan pencerobohan Ukraine
Daerah itu mempunyai lebih 17,500 penduduk berdaftar sebelum Rusia melancarkan pencerobohan besar-besaran ke atas Ukraine pada Februari 2022.
![Ringgit ditutup rendah berbanding dolar AS Ringgit ditutup rendah berbanding dolar AS](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-04/41713876066_TBringgitmalaysia.jpg)
Ringgit ditutup rendah berbanding dolar AS
Data CPI AS untuk Julai turun kepada 2.9 peratus pada asas tahunan berbanding tiga peratus pada Jun.
![Lesen Ali Baba: Pembantu penguat kuasa DBKL didenda RM13,000 Lesen Ali Baba: Pembantu penguat kuasa DBKL didenda RM13,000](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/71722937565_courtgavelmahkam.jpg)
Lesen Ali Baba: Pembantu penguat kuasa DBKL didenda RM13,000
Hakim Azura Alwi menjatuhkan hukuman itu terhadap Syahrul Riza Md Yusof, 42, dan memerintahkannya dipenjara 21 bulan, jika gagal membayar denda.
![Bursa Malaysia pulih daripada penurunan awal, ditutup hampir mendatar Bursa Malaysia pulih daripada penurunan awal, ditutup hampir mendatar](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/71721994407_BursaMalaysia.jpg)
Bursa Malaysia pulih daripada penurunan awal, ditutup hampir mendatar
Pada 5 petang, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) meningkat 0.04 peratus atau 0.59 mata kepada 1,612.94 daripada 1,612.35 semasa ditutup pada Rabu.
Jemaah umrah terkandas di Lapangan Terbang Jeddah mahu penjelasan MAS
Puluhan penumpang Malaysia Airlines yang menuju ke Kuala Lumpur dari Jeddah terkandas di Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Raja Abdulaziz di Jeddah pada Rabu.
![Pheu Thai calonkan anak perempuan Thaksin sebagai calon PM Pheu Thai calonkan anak perempuan Thaksin sebagai calon PM](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/61723722582_TBPaetongtarnShinaw.jpg)
Pheu Thai calonkan anak perempuan Thaksin sebagai calon PM
Paetongtarn yang berusia 37 tahun adalah anak perempuan kepada jutawan yang juga bekas Perdana Menteri Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra.