ISIS attacks at Yemeni mosques: 137 killed

2015-03-21 08:34:05

NEWS CENTER (DİHA) - The terror group ISIS purportedly claimed it committed Friday's bombings that killed scores of people at two mosques frequented by Shiite rebels in Yemen's capital -- an attack that would mark ISIS's first large-scale attack in the Arabian Peninsula country.

At least 137 people were killed and 357 wounded when suicide bombers, pretending to be disabled and hiding explosives under casts, attacked the mosques in Sanaa, according to Yemen's state-run Saba news agency. Video distributed by Reuters showed people removing bodies from one of the mosques, where a carpeted floor was littered with debris. If ISIS committed the attack, it would be not only a new challenge to the minority Houthis who took control of Sanaa weeks ago, but also a challenge to ISIS's rival, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Sunni extremists more associated with Yemen.

It would also illustrate a seemingly expanding focus for ISIS, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq and earlier this week claimed responsibility for Wednesday's killings of tourists at a museum in Tunisia. Regardless, Friday's attacks marked one of the worst days of recent violence during a complicated struggle for control of Yemen, where Houthi rebels -- Shiites in a predominantly Sunni country -- already faced resistance from AQAP and from supporters of ousted President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.

A written statement, purportedly from ISIS, claimed that ISIS executed Friday's attacks, calling them "a tip of an iceberg." The statement, posted on a site that previously carried ISIS proclamations, said five suicide bombers targeted Houthis in Sanaa. A separate audio message, also posted on ISIS-affiliated websites, claimed five ISIS suicide bombers killed dozens of "Houthi infidels." The voice is similar to one featured in Thursday's audio message in which ISIS claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack at the Bardo Museum in Tunisia.

(nt)