SANA’A: At least three Shias were killed in a bomb attack targeting the first public commemoration of Ashura in the Yemeni capital in half a century.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Al Qaeda and its affiliates, comprising Sunni Muslim militants, have targeted Shias in the past.
Medics and local officials said 13 other people were also wounded in the attack on a hall where the Shias were leaving the ceremony in Sana’a after the Ashura rituals.
“Fourteen people were brought to hospital, and three of them have died,” one medic at the Saudi German Hospital said.
A statement issued by the Houthis, a Shia armed group based in northern Yemen, said the attackers also sprayed the crowd with gunfire and fled.
“We condemn this attack and consider the safety of Yemeni citizens the responsibility of the so-called national unity government,” the statement said.
Yemeni Shias, who follow the Zaydi creed, have gained strength in Sanaa since President Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to step down following an uprising against his 33 years in office earlier this year. Saleh kept the rebels in check in northern Yemen, launching repeated campaigns against them.
Reuters
