Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen
Members of the al-Qaeda-linked group, Ansar al-Sharia, hold their weapons as they stand inside a mosque during a news conference during which the group announced the release of army soldiers in the southern town of Jaar April 29, 2012. Reuters

Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, Ansar Al-Sharia, claimed it killed 14 Yemeni soldiers Friday as revenge for the army’s killing of 25 suspected militants in the past week. Meanwhile, a U.S. drone attack killed three suspected militants Saturday.

Ansar Al-Sharia, also known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, reported the killing of 14 soldiers in an Internet posting late Friday, Reuters reported. The posting included pictures of soldiers, who were abducted from a public bus on the way to the capital of Sanaa, in civilian clothes surrounded by militants who hid their faces with headdresses.

“The captive soldiers participated in the latest campaign against Sunni Muslims in Wadi Hadramout, and thus the mujahedeen decided to kill them as a punishment for their crimes," the posting read, referring to the Hadramout governorate in east-central Yemen.

A U.S. drone attack killed three suspected militants Saturday in Yemen’s Maareb province.

"The air raid was conducted by a U.S. drone plane, which targeted a house in the Maareb province, killing three people inside who are suspected to be members of Al-Qaeda," a local official told Reuters.

Ansar Al-Sharia said it killed the 14 soldiers in response to Yemeni security forces killed 25 suspected militants in the last week. Seven of the militants were killed when they attempted to mount an offensive against a Yemeni army facility.

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