Thirty soldiers were killed Saturday night when a governmental air raid mistakenly hit their hideout in the southern province of Abyan, a senior security official in the province said Sunday morning.
The soldiers had been using a school in the outskirts of Zinjibar, the capital of province, as a launching pad to strike militants in the area.
State run Saba News Agency denied that attack took place and said that no soldiers were killed.
Government forces have been fighting extremist in the province for five months now.
In May the government evacuated more than 10,000 of its troops opening the way for militants to takeover all governmental buildings and police stations in Abyan.