Several blasts hit US embassy and more attacks threatened

Dubai: Nineteen people suspected of being connected to Al Qaida and Wednesday's attack on on the US embassy in Sana'a have been arrested by Yemeni authorities, Al Arabiya television reported on Thursday.

At least 16 people were killed and several others injured in a terrorist attack on the US embassy in Sana'a, official sources said on Wednesday.

Six security men were killed, along with six attackers believed to be Al Qaida members.

Four people waiting to enter the embassy, including an Indian woman, were also killed when a car bomb exploded at the outer gate of the embassy. Three soldiers were injured, the security officials said.

Islamic Jihad in Yemen, which is unrelated to the Palestinian group with a similar name, claimed responsibility for the incident and threatened further attacks on other embassies including those of Britain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The Yemeni government said it was a retaliatory act from Al Qaida after the government cracked down on their activities.

"The attack against the US embassy today comes as a reaction for current measures taken by the government against the terrorists," said the foreign Yemeni minister in a meeting with the European ambassadors shortly after the attack yesterday.

No one from the US embassy staff was killed or injured as the explosions and shootout were several metres away from the outer gate of the embassy.

In a statement sent to the media, the US embassy condemned the attack and said it continues to co-operate with the Yemeni authorities to investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice.

"Today's events demonstrate that terrorist criminals will not hesitate to kill innocent citizens and those charged with protecting them in pursuit of their agenda of terror," the statement said.

"The Embassy is working closely with senior Yemeni government officials to investigate this incident. We will rely on continued close co-operation with the Yemeni authorities to complete a thorough investigation and to bring the perpetrators of this heinous terrorist crime to justice," added the statement.

Eyewitnesses from the scene told Gulf News they heard five successive explosions, in agreement with the embassy statement which says "a number of explosions followed by secondary explosions".

"First we heard shots. When I went to the roof of my house, I saw some security men shooting. Then I heard a big explosion. The windows of my house broke, and I took my family out to the street because we are very close," Yahya Mousa, who lives in a residential complex known adjacent to the embassy, told Gulf News.

"In the street of our city, we found parts of the car that exploded, and some parts of human bodies. Then we heard five successive bombings. Later, we saw parts of gas cylinders on the street," said Mousa whose house was 20 to 30 metres from the main gate the embassy where explosions took place.

Officials and eyewitnesses confirmed two cars were involved, one carrying explosives and the other with armed men, including one wearing an explosive belt.

"We saw two cars, one Hilux with armed men on board, and the other was a Prado," said Saddam Hussain, an eyewitness.

The person wearing the explosives belt stepped out of the Hilux pickup and blew himself up, while security men were clashing with the other attackers, Hussain said.

Observers did not exclude the possibility of Al Qaida being behind the attack, especially after recent reports that security agencies in Yemen received threats to release Al Qaida members who were arrested in the last operation in Tareem, Hadramout.

Five Al Qaida operators, including a self-proclaimed leader were killed while two others were injured and arrested last August.

"Today's attack is not a sign of Al Qaida getting weaker or stronger, it is a sign that there is a serious confrontation between Al Qaida and security agencies in Yemen, and this is getting stronger," said a local political analyst.

-with inputs from agencies