SANAA, Yemen — A band of al Qaeda militants seized full control of a town 100 miles south of the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday, overrunning army positions, storming the local prison and freeing at least 150 inmates, security officials said.
The capture of Radda expanded significant territorial conquests by the militants, who have taken advantage of the weak central government and political turmoil roiling the nation for the past year during an uprising inspired by Arab Spring revolts.
Authoritarian President Ali Abdullah Saleh recently agreed to step down, but he remains a powerful force within the country and a spark for ongoing unrest.
The group previously took control of a string of towns in the mostly lawless south. But its capture of Radda is particularly important because it gives the militants a territorial foothold closer than ever before to the capital, where many sleeper cells of the terrorist network are thought to be located.
An Associated Press photographer who visited Radda on Sunday said the militants were armed with rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles and other weapons. He quoted residents as saying the black al Qaeda banner has been raised atop the mosque they captured over the weekend.
The opposition accused Mr. Saleh, who is to step down this month in line with a power transfer deal, of allowing the militants to overrun Radda along with two other towns in southern Abyan province captured previously - Zinjibar and Jaar - to bolster his claims that he must remain in power to secure the country against the rising power of Islamist militants.
Some tribal leaders also accused Mr. Saleh of giving the “green light” to the militants to overrun the city.
“We are surprised by the silence of the security forces,” said opposition activist Abdel-Rahman al-Rashid, who lives in Radda. “They have not moved, which only means that this is all arranged to spark chaos.”
The United States and its western and Gulf Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia long considered Mr. Saleh a pivotal ally in the fight against Yemen’s active al Qaeda branch, which has been linked to terrorist attacks on U.S. soil and is thought to be one of the international terrorist organization’s most dangerous franchises.
The U.S. withdrew its support last summer and said Mr. Saleh should step down.
Security officials said a band of about 200 militants pushed into Radda on Monday from several points they had captured over the weekend, including an ancient castle that overlooks the town, a school and a mosque. They stormed the local prison and freed 150 to 200 inmates, including an unspecified number of militants loyal to al Qaeda.
Some of the freed inmates joined the militants after they were given arms, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with media.
The officials said the al Qaeda fighters were led by Tariq Al-Zahab, a Yemeni whose sister was married to U.S.-born al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, killed in a U.S. airstrike in September.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.