San’a, Yemen ? The massive manhunt for 10 escaped suspects in the fatal USS Cole bombing has led to the arrests of more than a dozen people with links to the men, but the fugitives remained at large Sunday.

Yemeni Islamists and relatives of the fugitives have been taken into custody, officials close to the investigation said Sunday.

A government task force formed to catch the fugitives also suspended three Aden police officials responsible for security at the prison and was questioning them about the escape, members told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The 10 men escaped Friday from the tightly guarded intelligence prison building in Aden, dealing a major blow to the investigation into the Oct. 12, 2000, attack that killed 17 U.S. sailors. The United States has said the al-Qaida terror network was responsible.

The escapees include chief suspect Jamal al-Badawi, who allegedly bought the dinghy packed with explosives that suicide bombers rammed into the anchored destroyer refueling in the southern Yemeni port of Aden.

An Interior Ministry official said earlier that the fugitives escaped through a hole in a bathroom wall inside their detention room. Officials close to the investigation gave a slightly different account, saying they smashed a window inside the building and fled.

Investigators believe the fugitives traveled toward Yemen’s northern provinces, including Shabwah, an area regarded as an al-Qaida stronghold, or the Red Sea port of Al-Hudaydah, southwest of the capital San’a and home to some of the fugitives.

Prison officers and Aden security officials are being questioned in the investigation, the official said.

Yemen, a tribal-dominated country on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, committed itself to the war on terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks. It has allowed U.S. forces to enter Yemen and train its military.