The death toll among Yemeni government troops attacked by al-Qaida militants at the weekend has risen to 185, military officials said today.

UN aid agencies today called on the government of Yemen and rebels to ensure humanitarian access to civilians caught up in fighting that flared up in the north last month.

Two Muslim militants accused of killed three American Christian missionaries and a Yemeni politician had also planned attacks on journalists and other foreigners, security officials said today.

An American pharmacist has told his parents he was sure he was going to die when a gunman stormed the hospital where he worked in Yemen.