The Yemen-based al-Qaida regional wing distributed alleged circulars to threaten to assassinate 55 named top security officers in Yemen's Abyan province, where al- Qaida militants were very active, a provincial police official said on Friday, Xinhua reported.
The alleged circulars were stuck on the walls of the main mosques, streets and public markets in Zinjibar, the provincial capital of the southern troubled province of Abyan, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
"These 55 named security officers have become legitimate targets for us since September 10, 2010, and God willing we are going to kill them one by one if they do not repent of their criminal acts against Muslims and quit from their jobs with the traitorous government," the alleged circulars said, according to the official.
The official said the list included 31 security intelligence officers, officers of criminal investigation unit and nine officers of the military intelligence service.
"They aimed to intimidate us, but we have become bound and determined to eradicate such worthless people and we are chasing them around the clock," the official responded to the circulars.
On Tuesday, the terrorist group claimed responsibility for killing more than 50 security soldiers in battles with security forces in Lodar city of Abyan late last month, according to statements issued on jihadist forums.
Abyan has apparently become a stronghold of al-Qaida forces in the Arabian Peninsula, which has witnessed a series of deadly battles between al-Qaida fighters and the security forces.
On Aug. 20, deadly battles erupted in Lodar city and lasted for more than a week after al-Qaida fighters killed 11 soldiers in an ambush in the city.
Yemeni Interior Ministry said Sunday that the security authority had arrested at least 14 al-Qaida members in Lodar city after the terrorists were totally defeated by the security forces in the week-long fighting.
The impoverished country, which is the ancestral homeland of global al-Qaida-founder Osama bin Laden, has beefed up crackdown on terrorist groups with an intelligence help by the United States since the Yemen-based affiliate claimed credit for a botched attempt to blow up a U.S. passenger plane bound for Detroit last December.