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Bomb misses minister, kills 13 others in Sanaa
Source: Agencies |
September 12, 2012, Wednesday
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A powerful car bomb struck the Yemeni defense minister's motorcade as he was driving through the nation's capital Sanaa yesterday, killing at least 13 people but leaving the minister unharmed.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast but al-Qaida's Yemeni branch has carried out several failed assassination attempts against the minister, Major General Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, in the past. The attack came a day after Yemeni authorities announced the death of the No. 2 leader of the network's Yemeni branch in an apparent US airstrike in June.
Yesterday's bombing hit the last vehicle in the minister's three-car convoy as it was traveling through Sanaa's al-Izaa neighborhood. The blast left the car a charred hulk of twisted metal with burnt bodies strapped inside, and blew out the windows of storefronts and scorched a building nearby. Pools of blood stained the pavement.
Eight of the minister's security guards and five civilian bystanders were killed.
"This is awful," said Mohamed El-Mehdi, who works in the area. "The people and children are unable to grasp what happened."
He said some of the five civilians killed were the owners of nearby shops.
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the terror network's Yemeni branch, has been locked in a fierce battle with the country's military, and has tried on several recent occasions to kill the defense minister.
In May, the group carried out a suicide bombing that killed 96 soldiers and wounded at least 200 in a military parade in the capital. Al-Qaida said it had been targeting Ahmed, who was not hurt in the attack.
Last September, a suicide attacker driving an explosives-laden car blew himself up in the southern city of Aden next to the minister's passing convoy. Ahmed escaped that attack unscathed as well.
Al-Qaida's Yemeni branch is seen as the world's most active, planning and carrying out attacks against targets in Yemen as well as in the US.
In a blow to the group, the death of al-Qaida in Yemen's No. 2 leader is seen as a major breakthrough for US efforts to cripple al-Qaida in Yemen.
The leader of al-Qaida confirmed the death of the group's second-in-command, who was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan in June. In a video posted late Monday on militant websites, al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri described Abu Yahya al-Libi as a "lion of jihad and knowledge."
The killing of al-Libi was the biggest setback to al-Qaida since the death of Osama bin Laden.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast but al-Qaida's Yemeni branch has carried out several failed assassination attempts against the minister, Major General Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, in the past. The attack came a day after Yemeni authorities announced the death of the No. 2 leader of the network's Yemeni branch in an apparent US airstrike in June.
Yesterday's bombing hit the last vehicle in the minister's three-car convoy as it was traveling through Sanaa's al-Izaa neighborhood. The blast left the car a charred hulk of twisted metal with burnt bodies strapped inside, and blew out the windows of storefronts and scorched a building nearby. Pools of blood stained the pavement.
Eight of the minister's security guards and five civilian bystanders were killed.
"This is awful," said Mohamed El-Mehdi, who works in the area. "The people and children are unable to grasp what happened."
He said some of the five civilians killed were the owners of nearby shops.
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the terror network's Yemeni branch, has been locked in a fierce battle with the country's military, and has tried on several recent occasions to kill the defense minister.
In May, the group carried out a suicide bombing that killed 96 soldiers and wounded at least 200 in a military parade in the capital. Al-Qaida said it had been targeting Ahmed, who was not hurt in the attack.
Last September, a suicide attacker driving an explosives-laden car blew himself up in the southern city of Aden next to the minister's passing convoy. Ahmed escaped that attack unscathed as well.
Al-Qaida's Yemeni branch is seen as the world's most active, planning and carrying out attacks against targets in Yemen as well as in the US.
In a blow to the group, the death of al-Qaida in Yemen's No. 2 leader is seen as a major breakthrough for US efforts to cripple al-Qaida in Yemen.
The leader of al-Qaida confirmed the death of the group's second-in-command, who was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan in June. In a video posted late Monday on militant websites, al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri described Abu Yahya al-Libi as a "lion of jihad and knowledge."
The killing of al-Libi was the biggest setback to al-Qaida since the death of Osama bin Laden.
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