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Yemen car bomb and gun battle kill at least 20 Yemen car bomb and gun battle kill at least 20
(about 2 hours later)
At least 20 people have been killed in a car bomb and gun battle at the Yemeni defence ministry compound in the capital Sana'a in one of the most serious attacks in the past 18 months. A car bomber and gunmen dressed in army uniforms attacked Yemen's defence ministry compound in the capital Sana'a on Thursday morning, killing at least 20 people, in one of the worst attacks in Yemen in 18 months.
The defence ministry said the attack on Thursday targeted the ministry's hospital and most of the gunmen had been killed or wounded. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. But the country has been grappling with a security threat by al-Qaida-linked militants, who have repeatedly attacked government officials and installations over the past two years.
"The attackers have exploited some construction work there to carry out this criminal act … the situation is under control," the ministry said in a statement on its website. A western doctor and a Filipina nurse were shot and killed in front of their colleagues, according to a defence ministry source. Security in Yemen is an international concern. The US-allied country shares a long border with Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and is home to one of the most active branches of al-Qaida that has plotted attacks against western targets.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack. But the US-allied country has been grappling with a security threat by al-Qaida-linked militants, who have repeatedly attacked government officials and installations over the past two years. Security forces retook the compound after killing most of the attackers, the defence ministry said in a statement on its website.
Witnesses said the explosion shook the compound in the old district of Sana'a, where the country's central bank is also located. A medical source and a ministry official said the gunmen had pulled at least two foreign employees – a western doctor and a Filipina nurse – into the hospital courtyard and shot them dead in front of local staff.
The attack began as ministry employees were arriving for work, when a vehicle exploded at the compound's gate, two sources inside the ministry said. The ministry's official statement made no reference to a suicide attacker.
"The attack took place shortly after working hours started at the ministry, when a suicide bomber drove a car into the gate," the defence ministry source said."The attack took place shortly after working hours started at the ministry, when a suicide bomber drove a car into the gate," the defence ministry source said.
An employee working in a nearby building said: "The explosion was very violent, the whole place shook because of it and plumes of smoke rose from the building." The massive blast shook the bustling Bab al-Yemen neighbourhood on the edge of Sana'a's old city, a warren of market stalls and stone tower houses decorated with stained glass windows and ornate plasterwork.
Ambulance sirens and gunshots were heard after the blast as soldiers exchanged fire with the gunmen, said to have been disguised in Yemeni army uniforms, who had stormed the compound. Plumes of smoke billowed over the area, where the country's central bank is also located.
A military source said that at least 20 people, including militants, were killed in the attack and dozens were wounded. The Yemeni health ministry appealed to citizens to donate blood to help save the wounded. "The explosion was very violent, the whole place shook because of it and plums of smoke rose from the building," an employee who works in a nearby building said.
At least two sources inside the defence ministry said the attackers came in two vehicles. One was driven by a suicide bomber who attacked the gate of the compound, while armed men entered the compound in the second, the sources said. The ministry statement made no reference to a suicide attacker. Ambulance sirens and gunshots were heard after the blast as a second vehicle entered the compound carrying armed men dressed in Yemeni army uniforms and exchanged fire with soldiers.
Violence is common in Yemen, where an interim government is grappling with southern secessionists, al-Qaida-linked militants and northern Houthi rebels, as well as severe economic problems inherited from veteran president Ali Abdallah Saleh, who was forced out of office in 2011. Yemeni president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi later visited the compound, met senior military officials and ordered an investigation into the attack.
The insurgents were emboldened by a decline in government control over the country during protests that eventually ousted Saleh. They seized several southern cities before being driven out in 2012. "The attackers have exploited some construction work there to carry out this criminal act … the situation is under control," the ministry said in its statement.
Al-Qaida militants have killed hundreds of Yemeni soldiers and members of the security forces in a series of attacks since an offensive, which the US has supported with intelligence and drones, drove them out of their strongholds. The construction work was taking place near the compound's hospital facility, the statement said.
In July last year, a suicide bomber wearing a Yemeni army uniform killed more than 90 people rehearsing for a military parade in Sana'a. Al-Qaida later claimed responsibility for the attack. The defence ministry said that most of the gunmen were "wiped out" in the ensuing battle but added that two had escaped into a nearby building where they were pursued by security forces.
Yemen's defence minister, Major General Muhammad Nasir Ahmad, escaped a car bomb on his motorcade in September 2012 that killed at least 12 other people. A military source put the death toll at more than 20, including medical staff, soldiers and gunmen, and said dozens were also wounded. The Yemeni health ministry appealed to citizens to donate blood to help save the wounded.
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