SANAA (Reuters) – A suicide bomber in army uniform killed more than 90 soldiers in the heart of the Yemeni capital yesterday and an al Qaeda affiliate threatened more attacks if a US-backed campaign against militants in the front-line state did not stop.
The bombing, which wounded more than 200 people, underscored the dangers Yemen faces as it battles Islamist militants entrenched in the south and threatening shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
The explosion left scenes of carnage in Sanaa’s Sabaeen Square, where the military had been rehearsing for a parade. Body parts lay strewn across a 10-lane road not far from the presidential palace.
“We had just finished the parade. We were saluting our commander when a huge explosion went off,” said soldier Amr Habib. “It was a gruesome attack. Many soldiers were killed and others had their arms and legs blown off.”
US President Barack Obama said he was very concerned about extremist activity in the country, a major front in its global war on al Qaeda, and pledged continued help to counter it.
“That’s important for US safety. It’s also important for the stability of Yemen and the region,” he said at a NATO summit in Chicago.
His counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, called Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to convey Washington’s condemnation of the attack.