Suicide bomber, gunmen kill 52 at Yemeni Defence Ministry
Saturday, 7 December 2013 00:00
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Reuters: A suicide bomber and gunmen wearing army uniforms attacked Yemen’s Defence Ministry on Thursday, killing 52 people including foreign medical staff, government sources said, in the country’s worst militant assault in 18 months.
One attacker drove a car packed with explosives into the gate of the ministry’s compound, then gunmen in another vehicle sped in and opened fire on soldiers and doctors and nurses working at a hospital inside, witnesses told Reuters.
The US military raised its alert status in the region after the coordinated strikes on its ally, which is also home to what Washington has called the most active arm of al Qaeda.
The attack wounded 167 people, said the Yemeni government’s security committee. Two German and two Vietnamese doctors, and one Indian and two Filipino nurses were among the dead, it added.
No one immediately claimed responsibility, but a Yemeni expert on Islamist militant affairs said it bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda-linked militants who have repeatedly attacked government officials and installations over the past two years.
The security threat is an international concern. The impoverished country shares a long border with Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, and sits close to key shipping lanes.
Ministry staff were arriving for work when the suicide bomber struck, two sources inside the ministry said.
The massive blast shook the bustling Bab al-Yemen neighbourhood on the edge of the capital Sanaa’s old city, a warren of market stalls and stone tower houses decorated with stained glass windows and ornate plasterwork.
The attackers also killed one of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s relatives who was visiting a patient in the site, the defence ministry said on its website.
