Blast at Yemen bullet factory kills at least 50

ADEN – A blast at a bullet factory in south Yemen killed at least 50 people on Monday when residents broke in to steal ammunition a day after clashes between militants and the army in the town, doctors said.

Witnesses said the blast, possibly caused by a cigarette, caused a massive fire in the factory in the town of Jaar in Abyan province, where al-Qaida militants and mainly leftist southern separatists are active.

"This accident is a true catastrophe, the first of its kind in Abyan," said one doctor at the town’s state-run hospital. "There are so many burned bodies. I can’t even describe the situation."

Doctors put the death toll at between 50 and 55, but said that even arriving at a figure was difficult because the charred remains were difficult to count. They said some victims would be buried in a mass grave.

Scores were wounded, many suffering from burns, doctors said.

Clashes broke out on Sunday between militants and the army, fuelling Western and Saudi fears the country might slide into chaos which would benefit al-Qaida’s Yemen-based arm while President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 32-year-old rule is in crisis.

Saleh is facing pressure from tens of thousands of protesters demanding his removal. Talks on a transition have stalled, although source close to the discussions said a deal was still within reach.

Violence erupted in Jaar on Sunday after Islamist militants, who a provincial government official said were suspected to be from al-Qaida, seized control of several buildings in the town including the bullet factory. The army tried to dislodge them, but later appeared to have deserted the town of several hundred thousand residents for the provincial capital of Zinjibar, where security was tightened after militants fired rockets at state buildings, witnesses said.

One soldier was killed on Sunday and aircraft flew over the town. By early Monday, Islamist gunmen were in control of Jaar and had left the bullet factory but did not prevent residents from entering it to steal from an ammunition depot on the site, witnesses said.

Washington, which has been involved in the transition talks, and Saudi Arabia have seen Saleh as a strongman to keep al-Qaida from extending its foothold in a country which many political analysts say is close to collapse.

Yemen’s al-Qaida wing claimed responsibility for a foiled attempt in late 2009 to blow up an airliner bound for Detroit and for U.S.-bound cargo bombs sent in October 2010.

With central control weak, Saleh’s government has relied on tribal allies to maintain order but in recent years has faced rebellions by Zaidi Shi’ites in the north and a separatist movement hoping to recreate the state of South Yemen that united with the north under Saleh’s rule in 1990.