Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- The death toll from a sophisticated attack by Islamic extremists against soldiers in Yemen jumped to 184 Tuesday, three Yemeni officials told CNN. Air raids on militant positions since the attack have left at least 42 militants dead in Abyan province, security officials said. The attack Sunday at an army base by Ansar al-Sharia, which is allied with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, originally claimed the lives of 90 soldiers and wounded many others. A spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington issued a statement giving a much lower death toll, saying "73 martyrs" died in the "battles in Abyan." But officials on the ground in Abyan gave CNN the higher death toll.
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NEW: 184 soldiers were killed in the Sunday attack, Yemeni officials say
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NEW: A Yemeni government spokesman in Washington gives a much lower death toll
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42 militants have been killed in air raids, according to Yemeni officials
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The militants were with Ansar al-Sharia, which is allied with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Experts warn that al Qaeda is planning to conduct powerful attacks in six @placeholder provinces.