More Than 90 Killed in Attack on Yemen Capital

Al-Qaeda claims responsibility
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted May 21, 2012 3:00 AM CDT
Updated May 21, 2012 10:19 AM CDT
Yemen's Capital Hit With Deadliest Attack in Months
A bomber targeted a military parade practice.   (AP Photo, File)

A suicide bombing targeting the Yemeni military killed more than 90 people today, and injured another 222, a government official announced. Reportedly dressed as a soldier, the attacker set off the blast near the presidential palace in Sanaa as troops trained for a military parade. An al-Qaeda source tells the BBC that one of its members was responsible. BBC correspondent Frank Gardener calls it "a significant step-up in the country's troubles," noting that despite unrest in the south, Yemen's capital "has been relatively quiet" since President Ali Abdullah Saleh gave up power.

Separately, a US military instructor was seriously wounded after being shot by Islamist militants yesterday, Reuters reports. The group Ansar al-Sharia—or Partisans of Islamic Law—claimed responsibility for the attack. Fighting this weekend near Jaar, a town controlled by the group, killed some 33 militants and 19 soldiers. (More Yemen stories.)

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