DUSHANBE, June 30, 2015, Asia-Plus – International media sources report that a car bomb claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) exploded in the Yemeni capital Sanaa overnight, causing an unknown number of casualties
A number of Shiite Houthi rebel leaders were believed to be the target of the blast, which struck a crowd of people attending a funeral.
The casualty figures are unclear.
Reuters
reports 28 wounded but
AFP
says the same number of people was killed.
Monday”s attack took place behind a military hospital in Sanaa.
AFP
said it was targeting two Houthi rebel leaders, who are brothers, during a gathering of mourners at the funeral of a family member.
According to the news agency, eight women were among at least 28 fatalities.
Reuters
, however, said 28 people were injured in the blast, including 12 women.
The ISIL militant group posted a statement online saying its affiliate group based in Sanaa was behind the attack. ISIL has reportedly carried out a number of attacks in the capital in recent weeks.
The BBC
reports that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday called for a full investigation after a Saudi-led coalition air strike hit a UN compound in the southern city of Aden on Sunday, injuring one guard.
A Saudi-led military alliance has been bombing Yemen”s dominant Houthi group and its allies in the army to dislodge them from the capital and restore the exiled president.
A sectarian-tinged conflict has raged throughout Yemen”s south and center, pitting the Shiite Muslim Houthis against mostly Sunni local militiamen who support the Arab intervention.
Reuters
reports that the political vacuum has given hardline Sunni militants greater room to operate. They regard the Houthis as apostates worthy of death, and the overnight blast was the latest in a series of attacks on the group and their supporters.
