An investigation commission found that the former commander of Southern Region Mahdi Maqwala was involved in supporting Al-Qaeda militants, an Emirate newspaper, Al-Bayan, has quoted Yemeni military sources as saying.
The sources told Al-Bayan on Sunday that Maqwala supported the militants with weapons and helped them to capture military positions in the southern governorate of Abyan.
They further said that the findings of the probe will be declared soon and firm procedures will be taken against the involved officials.
Maqwala is among the closest commander to the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and he was sacked hours before Al-Qaeda militants attacked the military positions.
More than 180 soldiers were killed and 73 were captured last week as militants affiliated to Al-Qaeda bombarded the outskirts of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan. The militants also took over heavy weapons including cannons, missiles launcher and Katyusha rockets.
A military commission headed by Deputy Chief of Staff Ali Mohammad Salah to investigate the events that are considered the most violent attacks against the military since the control on Zinjibar nine months ago.
Yemeni politicians and analysts accused the ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh of using Al-Qaeda to intimidate some Western countries with the aim of keeping his relatives in their military positions.
Governor of Abyan Saleh Al-Zawari has accused military and political services of surrendering Abyan to Al-Qaeda.
In remarks to a local Aden radio, the governor also revealed that tanks, cannons and other military equipments were surrendered to Al-Qaeda militants without any resistance, pointing out that those behaviors were clear evidence of the collusion of some military services with Al-Qaeda.