Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The Defense Ministry headquarters in Sana, Yemen, on Thursday. A car bombing allowed gunmen to enter the compound.
SANA, Yemen — A two-pronged attack on Yemen’s heavily guarded Defense
Ministry headquarters that killed 52 people was carried out by Al Qaeda
militants, social media accounts and websites that often carry Qaeda
statements said on Friday.
Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
Smoke billowed from Yemen's Defense Ministry after an
assailant drove a car packed with explosives into the complex on
Thursday.
The attack on Thursday killed soldiers, doctors, patients and a number
of foreigners, and wounded more than 160 others. The militants blew open
an entrance to the compound with a car full of explosives, then gunned
down civilians at a hospital inside, witnesses have said.
Some of the Qaeda-linked websites said the militants were seeking
revenge for Yemen’s coordination with the United States on drone strikes
that have killed members of Al Qaeda.
The daylight assault on one of the government’s most important security
facilities appeared to mark a new low in Yemen’s descent into chaos and
instability since its longtime president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, was forced
from power after a popular uprising in 2011.
While the United Nations is trying to shepherd the country through a
rocky political transition, many of the figures that have long dominated
its political and economic life have much to lose if overhauls succeed
in limiting their power. This has left members of the old guard,
prominent military figures and tribal leaders struggling to maintain
their influence. The weakening of state control has exacerbated Yemen’s
perennial problems: rebel movements that want to divide the country,
extreme poverty and militancy.
Yemen is home to one of Al Qaeda’s most organized and threatening
affiliates, whose operatives have been the targets of an American drone
campaign to kill militants suspected of involvement in kidnapping for
ransom and a string of deadly attacks on military targets. The Qaeda
affiliate in Yemen has also tried to plant bombs on jetliners bound for
the United States.
Yemeni officials say that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as the
affiliate is known, has infiltrated the country’s security services, and
witnesses said that attackers on Thursday wore military uniforms.
The blast on Thursday was heard across Sana. Gunfire rang out after the
car exploded, sending plumes of smoke into the air.
The attack was apparently timed to coincide with the changing of the
guard at the complex, when gates are opened to allow soldiers to enter
and leave. Yemeni special forces in armored vehicles surrounded the
building, fighting gun battles into the night against about a dozen
assailants.
In September, militants suspected of belonging to Al Qaeda killed at least
21 government soldiers in attacks on two military targets in the south of Yemen.
In the last two years, more than 150 intelligence and security officials
have been killed across the country, many of them gunned down in
drive-by shootings.
Al Qaeda is not the only source of unrest. The government is facing
secessionists in the south and Shiite rebels in the north. Since Mr.
Saleh left office in 2011, an interim government has run the country
ahead of elections expected next year.
Nasser Arrabyee reported from Sana, and Ben Hubbard from Beirut, Lebanon. Alan Cowell contributed reporting from London.
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