SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A suicide bomber detonated his
explosives-laden car Thursday at Yemen's Defense Ministry, killing 18
soldiers and wounding at least 40 in an attack underlining the
persistent threat to the stability and security of the impoverished Arab
nation, military and hospital officials said.
Officials said as many as 12 gunmen also were killed in a firefight
between troops and a carload of attackers who arrived minutes after the
early morning blast, apparently in a bid to take over the complex in
downtown Sanaa, Yemen's capital.
They said the gunmen were armed with assault rifles, hand
grenades and rocket-propelled grenades.
They wore Yemeni army uniforms,
the officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which
bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida, whose chapter in Yemen is considered
among the world's most active.
The Defense Ministry issued a brief statement saying "most" of the
gunmen had been killed, but did not say how many there were or give any
other details. Yemen's defense minister was in Washington on Thursday
for talks with U.S. officials.
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi later arrived at the scene of the
attack and met with military commanders inside the complex. He also
ordered an investigation into the incident, the military officials said.
The officials said the blast badly damaged a hospital inside the
complex, started a fire and blew out windows and the doors of homes and
offices in the immediate vicinity. The blast and the subsequent gunfight
destroyed an armored vehicle belonging to the army and reduced three
civilian cars outside the complex to charred skeletons, witnesses said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.
Associated Press video shot shortly after the attack showed its
chaotic aftermath: a vehicle engulfed in flames as soldiers and
ambulances arrived at the ministry. Gunfire echoed in the streets as
sirens wailed.
Military helicopters hovered over the site after the blast and state television aired calls for blood donations.
Al-Qaida militants are concentered in the southern and eastern parts
of Yemen, but they occasionally strike in the capital. They took
advantage of the tenuous security prevailing in 2011 and 2012 during an
uprising against then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh by seizing territory
in the south. The government has since recaptured al-Qaida-held areas.
Yemen is strategically located at the southwest corner of the Arabian
Peninsula, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia, two of Washington's closest
Arab allies. Yemen has a shoreline on the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea
close to the vital shipping lines carrying oil from the energy-rich Gulf
region to the West.
The United States has been helping Yemen combat the threat of
al-Qaida, training Yemeni special forces, supplying them with arms and
exchanging intelligence with the Sanaa government.
U.S. drones and airstrikes against al-Qaida hideouts in Yemen are
common. They also target suspected members of the terror network.
___Al-Haj reported from Aden, Yemen.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/05/yemen-explosion_n_4389061.html
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