Yemen mosque bombing kills 25 during prayers

SANAA: A bombing claimed by the IS group targeting worshippers at a mosque in Yemen’s capital on Thursday killed at least 25 people and wounded dozens more during holiday prayers.

Sanaa, seized by Houthi insurgents a year ago, has been shaken by a string of bombings in recent months by IS.

Thursday’s blast ripped through the Balili mosque, located near a police academy, witnesses said.

Witnesses said that after a first blast inside the mosque, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt at the entrance as worshippers rushed out.

The perpetrators hid explosives inside shoes and clothing to get past searches introduced at the entrance after the previous attacks, according to the mosque’s head of security, Adnane Khaled.

Blood stains and debris were seen on the floor of the mosque after the blast, while Houthi rebels inspected the damage.

Bomb attacks targeting several mosques in Sanaa on March 21 killed 142 people, with IS also claiming attacks on mosques in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis seized the capital of Yemen in September 2014 and expanded their grip to other parts of the country.

Pro-government forces backed by air strikes and troops provided by a coalition have recently managed to wrest back some southern provinces, including the second city of Aden.

After six months in exile in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi returned to Aden on Tuesday with a vow to liberate

The perpetrators hid explosives inside shoes and clothing to get past searches introduced at the entrance after the previous attacks, according to the mosque’s head of security, Adnane Khaled

the country from the Houthis.

In a speech to mark Eid, Hadi said the Houthis had “suffered defeat after defeat” and that “Yemen will soon be freed”.

The Arab coalition launched air strikes against the rebels on March 26, and started a ground operation in July.

Hadi loyalists began an all-out offensive against the Houthis in oil-rich Marib province east of Sanaa earlier this month, aiming to retake its capital.

The United Nations says around 5,000 people have been killed in Yemen and 25,000 wounded, many of them civilians, since late March.

Yemen descended into chaos after the 2012 ouster of longtime strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, and security has broken down since Houthi militiamen swept into the capital unopposed.

IS and the Yemen-based branch of its Al Qaeda have exploited the turmoil to boost their activities in the country on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

Al Qaeda has long been the dominant force in Yemen, located next to Saudi Arabia and key shipping lanes, but experts say IS is seeking to supplant its extremist rival. — AFP