Twelve alleged Al-Qaeda militants plus two other inmates have tunnelled their way to freedom from a prison in the south Yemen city of Aden, a security official said on Monday.
The prisoners fled through a six-metre (yard) tunnel they dug at the western end of Aden's central prison, the official said.
None of the escapees was serving a jail sentence. Some were being tried over a 2009 robbery of a bank in Aden, while others were facing charges of being involved in various assassinations of intelligence officers, security sources said.
In June, heavily-armed Al-Qaeda fighters raided the central jail in the southern city Al-Mukalla, capital of the Hadramawt province, freeing dozens of prisoners and killing a security guard.
The Mukalla jail was believed to house more than 100 Al-Qaeda militants, 58 of whom have been tried in court and have received jail sentences.
Yemen's army has been fighting heavy gunbattles with Al-Qaeda militants in several parts of the Arab nation that has been witnessing a massive uprising against the 32-year-old rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
