(VOVworld) -  The jihadist Islamic State group claimed responsibility for attacks on the army in southeast Yemen on Friday, after the military had blamed Al-Qaeda for the assaults that cost dozens of lives.

Yemeni tribesmen from the Popular Resistance Committees, supporting forces loyal to Yemen's Saudi-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, fire from a tank in the area of Sirwah on November 3, 2015 (Photo: AFP)

IS said in a statement, quoted by SITE monitoring group, that 50 Yemeni troops were killed in multi-pronged attacks including a suicide bombing and clashes in Hadramawt province. The Yemeni army earlier said Al-Qaeda had launched the attacks on army positions near the town of Shibam, and that 12 soldiers and 19 jihadists were killed.