Mosque suicide bombers in Yemen killed 137 people

Yemen is already home to the most powerful branch of the al-Qaeda network, which has been battling Shiites, known as Houthis for months. Yesterday al-Qaeda militants seized control of southern provincial capital, al-Houta, but denied carrying out the mosque bombings.

 

Blankets were used to cover the bodies of those killed in Sana'a. Photo / AP

Suicide bombers killed 137 people in monstrous blasts that ripped through worshippers in Yemen yesterday. At least 13 children were among the dead.
An affiliate of Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombings, which injured 357 people. Islamic State claimed responsibility for a bloody attack on Western tourists in Tunisia that authorities said was carried out by militants trained in Libya, raising fears that the extremist group was expanding.
Yemen is already home to the most powerful branch of the al-Qaeda network, which has been battling Shiites, known as Houthis for months. Yesterday al-Qaeda militants seized control of southern provincial capital, al-Houta, but denied carrying out the mosque bombings.
Yesterday's blasts left scenes of bloody devastation in the Badr and al-Hashoosh mosques, across town from each other in the Yemeni capital Sana'a. Shiite Houthis control the mosques but Sunni worshippers also attend.

Images from the scene showed children among the dead. In footage from the al-Hashoosh mosque, screaming volunteers were seen using bloodied blankets to carry away victims as a small child lay dead on the mosque floor.
"Blood was running like a river," said one survivor, Mohammed al-Ansi, who was thrown almost two metres by one of the blasts at the al-Hashoosh mosque, where the floor was strewn with body parts.
Two suicide bombers targeted the mosques during midday prayers. The state news agency SABA put the toll at 137 dead and 357 wounded. Among the dead were 13 children, according to the Interior Ministry. A prominent Shiite cleric, al-Murtada al-Mansouri, and two senior Houthi leaders were also killed, the Al-Masirah TV channel said.
It also reported a fifth suicide bomb attack on another mosque was foiled in the northern city of Saada -- a Houthi stronghold.
In the Badr mosque, guards caught the first bomber searching worshippers at the gate, where he managed to detonate his device. In the ensuing panic, a second bomber entered the mosque and blew himself up, according to SABA.
"I fell on the ground and when I regained consciousness I found myself lying in a lake of blood," survivor Ahmed al-Gabri said. Two worshippers next to him were killed in the explosions and another died when one of the mosque's glass chandeliers fell on him.
Another survivor, Sadek al-Harithi, said the explosions were like "an earthquake where I felt the ground split and swallow everyone".
If yesterday's bombings were carried out by Islamic State supporters, it could be intended as a dramatic signal to al-Qaeda, the group's rival, and effectively a challenge over turf as the two compete for recruits by showing who can generate the worst bloodshed.
In its claim of responsibility, an alleged Islamic State affiliate calling itself "Sana'a Province" warned of an "upcoming flood" of attacks. "The soldiers of the Islamic State ... will not rest until we have uprooted" the Houthis, it said. The claim could not be independently confirmed.
The statement was posted on the same web bulletin board where the Islamic State claimed responsibility for Wednesday's deadly attack on a museum in Tunisia.
In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the US had seen no indications of an operational link between the Islamic State group and yesterday's attacks. Al-Qaeda has denounced the declaration of a caliphate in areas of Iraq and Syria under Islamic State control and accuses the group of "driving a wedge" among jihadis.
In a further sign of the chaos in Yemen, al-Qaeda's branch of the country took control of the southern city of al-Houta yesterday, security officials said.