At least 100 people have died and more than 250 were injured as a result of three suicide bombings, targeting two mosques in Yemen’s capital Sana’a, this Friday. The Islamic State radicals in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attacks that targeted worshippers attending the noon Friday prayers at the Badr and al-
At least two suicide bombers targeted the Badr mosque, in the south of Sana’a. The first detonated his device inside the mosque and the second one targeted the crowd fleeing through the main gate. At the same time, a third suicide bomber targeted the al-
A witness told Associated Press that “blood was running like a river” and images released by Reuters confirm the horrific scenes with hundreds of people, including children, being carried out of the mosque by volunteers, in blankets, dead or severely injured. The prominent Houthi iman al-Murtada bin Zayd al-Mahatwari is reportedly among the victims.
Total death and injury tolls are still unclear with Reuters reporting 126 casualties, but a Yemeni Shia television network is stating that at least at 137 people died and 345 were injured. The Shia television networks are urging citizens to donate blood so they can meet the demands of all the badly injured.
These two mosques are mostly used by the Shia Houthi militia that forcefully ousted the President and controls the capital Sana’a since September. The Islamic State branch in Yemen has issued a statement, on Twitter, claiming responsibility for the suicide bombings targeting the Shia mosques. The attacks follow a shooting yesterday in Aden between Houthi rebels and the troops loyal to the ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, currently under house arrest, that killed 13 people. These attacks are the latest incidents in a country taken over by violence resulting from the ongoing tensions between the Shia Houthi rebels, the troops loyal to the ousted president and Sunni militant movements, including ISIS and Al-Qaida.