Yemen in full control of military compound after attack

Yemen's defense ministry said on Friday it had regained full control of its Sanaa military compound a day after an attack killed 52 people including foreign medics.

An al-Qaeda-linked group earlier claimed responsibility for the attack in the capital, the country's worst assault in 18 months. The ministry said in a statement that Yemeni forces killed 11 attackers in Thursday's violence.

"As part of the policy of targeting the operation rooms of pilotless planes (drones), the mujahideen (holy fighters) have heavily struck one of these rooms in the Ministry of Defense headquarters," Ansar al-Sharia said in a Twitter message posted early on Friday.

The group is an offshoot of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

"Such joint military locations which participate with the Americans in their war against this Muslim nation are a legitimate target for our operations," another tweet said.

Thursday's attack, in which 167 people were wounded, was carried out by a suicide bomber and gunmen wearing army uniforms. Some of the dead were foreign medics, including German, Vietnamese, Indian and Filipino nationals.

The U.S. military raised its alert status in the region after the coordinated strikes on Yemen, which is also home to what Washington has called the most active arm of al-Qaeda.

Yemen has faced severe economic and security problems since former president Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced out of office by a popular uprising during the Arab Spring in 2011.

The government is fighting southern secessionists and northern Houthi rebels in addition to al-Qaeda-linked fighters who took advantage of the chaos triggered by Saleh’s ouster to seize several southern cities.

They were driven out in 2012 in a joint offensive by Yemen’s government and the U.S. military, but continue to carry out attacks.

The fighters have targeted Yemen military forces and aim to overthrow the government — calling them complicit in a Western war on Muslims.

U.S. drone strikes have become common across Yemen as part of the U.S. war against al-Qaeda. Critics say the drone strikes often kill innocent civilians.

Human Rights Watch said in an October report that the strikes have killed innocent civilians indiscriminately "in clear violation of the laws of war" and that others may have targeted people who were not legitimate military targets.

Al Jazeera and wire services