Militants storm compound in Yemen, kill 17

SANAA, Yemen — Masked militants set off a large car bomb outside a security headquarters in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden early Sunday killing at least 17 people before storming the compound, officials said, sparking combat that continued well into the night.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters, the security officials said the militants placed snipers on the roof and gunned down most of the security forces inside. The officials gave conflicting accounts of what happened next inside the building. They initially said the militants had taken an unknown number of people hostage. Later they said they opened cell gates and released prisoners.

Security forces backed by an Apache helicopter continued to fight for control of the installation after nightfall, chasing down militants in the surrounding structures and neighborhood. Some hostages were killed, they added, without providing specific figures. They said at least five soldiers were among the dead.

Witnesses said at least four militant snipers could be seen on the roof of the compound. They also described mayhem as dead bodies littering the compound’s front courtyard couldn’t be retrieved because of the continuous sniper fire. Shallal alShayae, the security chief, was not inside the compound at the time of the attack, the officials said.

In an online statement, the local affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack saying they killed 50 soldiers and identified the bomber as Abu Othman al-Hadrami.

A Saudi-led coalition meanwhile launched a wave of airstrikes — starting overnight and continuing until noon the next day — on the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, apparently in response to a ballistic missile fired by the rebels toward an international airport on the outskirts of Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Saudi Arabia said it shot down the missile before it hit its target, with fragments landing in an uninhabited area north of the capital.

U.S. President Donald Trump was quick to blame Iran. “A shot was just taken by Iran, in my opinion, at Saudi Arabia. And our system knocked it down,” Trump said, referring to the Patriot missile batteries Saudi Arabia purchased from the U.S.