Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Sunday that al-Qaida militants have seized control of a weapons factory, Presidential Palace and a state radio station in Yemen' southern province of Abyan, Xinhua reported.
The president, facing massive street protests across the country demanding an end to his 33-year rule, made the remarks in a meeting that aired by the state television.
The weapons factory seized by al-Qaida, is located in Khanfar district in Abyan, said Saleh, adding that a number of districts in the provinces of Abyan, Shabwa and Marib have fallen into the hands of al-Qaida.
Saleh also said al-Qaida militants killed seven armymen when they attacked an army post on Sunday in Marib province, northeast of the capital Sanaa.
A government official in Jaar district in Abyan, who works at the radio station seized by the al-Qaida militants, told Xinhua that militants took over the Presidential Palace and the radio station after they besieged them for two days.
A provincial security official told Xinhua that the security authorities are preparing for a massive attack against al-Qaida militants to force them out of the state facilities.