Although it was first announced by international media this Sunday that armed militants attempted to storm Yemen Oil Ministry by ramming an explosive-laden vehicle into one of its buildings, in a move reminiscent to 2013 terror attack against the Defence Ministry, it appeared that instead, terrorists booby-trapped an intelligence officer’s vehicle before detonated it near the ministry.
Colonel Mohammed Fadhel Hussein, the targeted intelligence officer was killed in the blast. His bodyguard and two passers-by were severely injured in the blast. Sources close to the matter confirmed that all had been transferred to a near-by hospital where they will receive treatment.
While no group claimed responsibility for the attack as yet, officials have already pointed their fingers at al-Qaeda, noting that today’s attack matched the group’s Modus Operandi almost to perfection.
And if by now Yemen has become accustomed to the threat of terrorism within the walls of its capital, Sana’a, some security experts have said to be a bit thrown by the timing of the attack. An independent political risk analyst based in Aden told the Yemen Post that Sunday’s attack could be understood within the parameters of the Houthis conflict, whereby Sunni radicals would be reminding the state of their abilities to disrupt and sabotage. “Since it has been established that al-Qaeda has operated under the shadows of some of Yemen’s most radical factions and sub-factions, the idea that those very groups would be enrolling their terror militias to carry out tactical operations within the capital as to force the state into complying with their demands is not that far-fetched.”