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Al-Qaida in Yemen apologizes for attack
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In a rare public apology, the militant leader of al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen has said that one of his fighters disobeyed orders and attacked a hospital attached to the Defense Ministry during a December assault that killed 52 people.
Qassim al-Rimi, commander of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, said in a video posted on militant websites that the attackers were warned in advance not to enter the hospital within the complex, nor a place for prayer there. But he said one fighter did.
“Now we acknowledge our mistake and guilt,” al-Rimi said in a video released late Saturday by al-Qaida’s media arm al-Mallahem. “We offer our apology and condolences to the victims’ families. We accept full responsibility for what happened in the hospital and will pay blood money for the victims’ families.”
The apology seemed prompted by Yemen state television earlier broadcasting a video showing a gunman attacking doctors and other hospital personnel.
Several al-Qaida jihadis tried to dismiss the video as fake on militant websites.
However, the outcry apparently embarrassed the al-Qaida branch to the point of issuing an unusual expression of regret from the group.
“We rid ourselves of what our brother did,” al-Rimi said. “We did not order him to do so and we are not pleased with what he did.”
However, al-Rimi said despite the group making a mistake, “we are continuing with our jihad.”
The authenticity of the English-subtitled video could not be absolutely confirmed.
That fighter and eight other militants were killed in the December 5 suicide bombing and attack on the ministry complex in Sanaa, capital of Yemen.
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