World / Yemen Militants Kill 80 Soldiers in Yemen 50 troops captured in devastating attack By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff Posted Mar 5, 2012 10:04 AM CST Copied Protestors hold banners and the Syrian revolutionary flag during a demonstration in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, March 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed) Al-Qaeda-linked militants attacked an army base in southern Yemen, setting off a pair of car bombs and killing 80 soldiers yesterday in an hours-long battle. At least 20 militants were also killed in what became one of the bloodiest battles the country has seen in years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Militants captured some 50 troops and the majority of the base's weapons. It was just the latest in a series of violence by Islamist militants since new President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was sworn in two weeks ago. (More Yemen stories.) Report an error