Islamist militants attacked the US embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa with a car bomb and rockets on Wednesday, leaving 16 people dead, in the second strike on the high-security compound in six months.
No American personnel were reported injured.
Several “secondary explosions” followed the first blast, the embassy said in a statement. A Yemeni security official said the compound was hit by two car bombs, followed by heavy gunfire that lasted about 10 minutes.
Ryan Gliha, a spokesman for the embassy, told The Associated Press by telephone that several nearby homes were badly damaged. Gliha, speaking from inside the large, heavily guarded compound, could not immediately say whether the embassy suffered any damage.
The Islamic Jihad of Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they did it as result of U.S.-Yemen ties and cooperation. Internet forums also cited religious leaders that in the last few weeks called for jihad to start in Yemen.
One source stated the apparent attack on the embassy in Yemen did not “happen in a vacuum.” In the last two months, Yemen has broken up or arrested members of a significant number of cells — some related to Al Qaeda.
In mid-August, the U.S. Embassy applauded the series of recent arrests, according to the official news agency in Yemen.
On Monday, security forces arrested five operatives of Al Qaeda in Yemen in the al-Qatten district of southeastern Hadramout province.
