An attack on Houthi rebel leaders in the Yemeni capital claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group killed at least 28 people, medics said, the latest deadly assault on Shiites by the Sunni extremists.
Yemen was previously the preserve of the Islamic State, previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as rival al-Qaeda, which controls swathes of the south and east, but since March the group has claimed a string of high-profile attacks.
The car bomb targeted Houthi rebel chief brothers Faycal and Hamid Jayache during a gathering to mourn the death of a family member, a security source said.
Eight women were among the dead.
Houthi rebels closed down the surrounding area in the center of Sana’a after the attack, only allowing through emergency services to help evacuate the victims, witnesses said.
The explosion blew a crater in the road, took chunks out of nearby walls and left debris strewn across the street.
In a statement posted online, IS said it had organized the attack on what it called a “Shiite nest.”
The group considers Shiites heretics and has repeatedly targeted them not only in Yemen, but in countries across the region.
The group, which on Monday marked the first anniversary of the declaration of its “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria, began its Yemen campaign in March with a series of bombings of Shiite mosques that killed 142 people. The deadly attacks have overshadowed the operations al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Analysts said that IS was now clearly in the ascendant.
IS is “in the process of supplanting AQAP, which is becoming just one of a number of forces in the Sunni tribal camp in southern Yemen,” said Mathieu Guidere, professor of Islamic studies at the University of Toulouse in France.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have seized vast swathes of the country since launching an offensive in July last year, forcing Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.
Neither peace talks in Geneva nor a Saudi-led air campaign begun in March have driven them from power.
Yemen’s official Saba news agency, which is controlled by the Houthis, reported early yesterday that the rebels had launched a Scud missile at the al-Salil military base, near the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
“The missile is in response to the aggression of Saudi Arabia, which is increasing its criminal air raids against our country,” Saba reported, citing a military spokesman.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately confirm or deny the missile attack.
Further south, in Dhaleh Province, forces opposed to the Houthis yesterday said that they had killed 167 rebels and captured 30 in three days of heavy fighting.
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