Yemen weapons factory hit by deadly explosions Published duration 28 March 2011

media caption Witnesses said the blasts caused a massive fire at a factory in the town of Jaar in Abyan province, Yemen

A series of huge explosions at an ammunition plant in southern Yemen has killed at least 78 people, doctors say.

The factory in the town of Jaar was raided by Islamist militants on Sunday amid clashes with government forces.

At the time of Monday's blasts residents were in the plant looting ammunition. The dead included women and children, officials said.

Yemen has been rocked by weeks of protests calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.

It is not clear what caused Monday's explosions, which could be heard 10 miles (15km) away.

'Burned bodies'

The factory, in the Khanfar area, close to Jaar city, makes munitions and Kalashnikov rifles, according to AP news agency. Ambulances have been bringing the injured to Jaar's al-Razi hospital.

"This accident is a true catastrophe, the first of its kind in Abyan," a doctor told Reuters news agency.

"There are so many burned bodies. I can't even describe the situation."

Doctors said counting the dead was almost impossible because the force of the explosion had left the remains of people so badly charred.

Reuters reported that scores of people were wounded, and many bodies remained inside the factory, which also contained stores of gunpowder.

The authorities said fighters from the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula group raided the factory on Sunday, stealing carloads of weapons.

Analysts fear that the group, which claims affiliation with Osama Bin Laden's militant network, is taking advantage of instability caused by the spate of anti-government protests.

The Yemeni government has been a key US ally in the region, conducting numerous joint anti-terror raids. Despite this, militancy has continued to flourish.

Opposition leader Yassin Noman told the BBC there had been a "collapse of security" in the country.

"This regime is unable now to control the country," he said, calling for the government to quit.

As well as the militant threat, Yemen is chronically poor - unemployment runs at about 40%, and there are rising food prices and acute levels of malnutrition.