There are more than 100.000 fictitious soldiers in Yemen's elite forces of the republican guard and the Special Forces commanded by the elder son of the former president Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, Alahale reported on Wednesday.

The website quoted presidential sources as saying President Abdrabu Mansour Hadi had obtained the information about the fictitious soldiers through the field committees in charge with counting and registering the Yemeni forces.

The committees were part of the plans to restructure the Yemeni armed and security sources.

Earlier, Hadi himself revealed huge corruption in the military, pointing there are about 52.000 fictitious soldiers in the republican guard receiving monthly salaries, about 50.000 YR each, from the state budget, according to Alahale.

The website also said Hadi met with a number of sheiks, clerics and dignitaries and discussed the situation in Yemen quoting statements by some of the attendants that Hadi told them the committees found the number of the republican guard was 130.000 including the fictitious soldiers.

"The real number of the republican guard personnel is only 78.000 soldiers," the sources were quoted as saying.

The Yemeni government is now seeking to restructure the armed forces with a focus on the republican guard and, the first armored division which defected to the popular uprising early last year.

The Yemeni army has been divided since March 2011, and the government is facing big challenges to reunify the forces.

The restructuring comes under the West-backed power-transfer deal which was reached after the unrest.

The US and the EU are providing technical assistance to the restructuring.