US embassy in Yemen hit by car bombing

uploaded by Amitjha September 17, 2008 at 02:02 am
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US embassy in Yemen hit by car bombing by Amitjha

This bombing infront of US embassy is clear cut signal that terrorist group can hit Americans any where in the world.

The U.S. embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa was hit by a car bombing on Wednesday sparking a series of explosions around the heavily fortified compound, witnesses said.

The car was blown up in front of the entrance to the compound and gunmen in a second vehicle then opened fire on embassy security guards with rockets as well as small arms, one witness said.

He said there were casualties among the Yemeni police detachment posted outside the embassy but he could not specify their number or condition.

Another witness saw at least two ambulances at the scene.

Yemeni officials were not immediately available to comment on the cause of the blasts or the number of casualties, but ambulances and fire engines rushed to the scene and police cordoned off the area

In April, the U.S. State Department ordered the evacuation of non-essential diplomatic staff following an attack on the embassy claimed by al-Qaeda the previous month, and rocket fire on a Sanaa residential compound used by U.S. oilmen.

A schoolgirl and a policeman were killed and 19 people wounded in the March attack on the compound.

No casualties were reported in the rocket attack on the Hadda residential compound, which al-Qaeda said it carried out to avenge the capture of one its commanders in Yemen, Abdullah al-Rimi.

The embassy called on Americans in Yemen to "exercise caution and take prudent security measures, including maintaining a high level of vigilance, avoiding crowds and demonstrations, keeping a low profile, varying times and routes for all travel."

In recent years, militants have carried out a string of attacks in Yemen, the ancestral homeland of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

In October 2000, al-Qaeda attacked American warship off the southern port of Aden, using a small boat packed with explosives to blow a hole in the side of the vessel, killing 17 American sailors.

Al-Qaeda's local wing which calls itself Jund al-Yemen Brigades has also claimed responsibility for previous attacks on Belgian and Spanish tourists in Yemen.

Last month, Yemeni security forces announced the arrest of 30 suspected al-Qaeda members, saying they had dismantled an extremist cell, as part of a crackdown on the jihadist network in the eastern part of the country.

On August 12, the ministry of defense announced the death of a local chief and four others belonging to al-Qaeda after armed clashes that left two policemen dead.

sourece: al arabia tv