70 killed, 100 injured in Yemen arms factory blasts

By Nagesh Narayana | March 28 2011 8:00 AM

Blasts in an ammunition factory in the southern Yemeni town of Jaar killed 70 people and injured more than a hundred, said initial reports. Doctors are reported to have said that the numbers may go up further.

REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Anti-government protesters shout slogans during a rally to demand the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh outside Sanaa University on Sunday. Talks to end a standoff over Saleh's rule have stopped without a plan to resume, opposition figures said on Sunday, as clashes erupted between the army and militants in the south.

Sponsorship Link

The explosives factory makes arms and Kalashnikov rifles. It was seized by Islamist rebels on Sunday after surrounding the Khanfar area in the sourthern Abyan province, said a BBC report.

Yemen is emerging as an al-Qaeda stronghold as the country is beset with unemployment and political instability with Islamist groups emerging strong in the country. More than 350,000 people have been replaced due to the unrest.