Suicide Bomber Kills At Least 37 People In Yemen

Hours after the horrible terrorist attack in France where 12 people were killed by armed gunmen, we now have even more disturbing news coming in from the Middle East. ABC News is reporting about a brazen attack outside a police academy in Yemen, which has claimed the lives of at least 37 people. According to the report, the attack, which was apparently carried out by a suicide bomber, happened outside a police academy in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. The suicide bomber targeted young police recruits who had assembled there to join the Yemeni police force. The bomber rammed a minibus, laden with explosives, into them before triggering an explosion.

Even hours after the attack in Yemen, no one has come forward to claim responsibility for the same, reports BBC News. Authorities however suspect that the local branch of terrorist organization al-Qaida could be behind this one as well — as has been the case with several other recent attacks that had rocked Yemen in 2014. Local al-Qaida support organizations have carried out several organized attacks in Yemen both against the country’s army and the police after blaming them for being an U.S. proxy.

The U.S. military has close relations with Yemen and is known to train soldiers and police recruits in the country against al-Qaida militants. Yemeni forces have in collaboration with the U.S. military also conducted several drone attacks against al-Qaida affiliated targets in the country.

It was a gory site at the scene of the attack. Body parts and debris lay strewn across a large area. Bodies lay in pools of blood as firefighters struggled to contain a blaze set off by the massive explosion. The remains of a taxi lay smoldering a few yards from what used to be the gates of the police academy.

Jamil al-Khaleedi, an eyewitness who was present at the location at the time of the suicide attack, said the following.

“We were all gathering and… [the minibus] exploded right next to all of the police college classmates. It went off among all of them, and they flew through the air.”

A paramedic at the scene described the situation as “catastrophic.”

“We arrived to find bodies piled on top of each other.”

Meanwhile, senior police officials have stated that they can confirm the deaths of at least 37 people. The number of injured individuals have been pegged at 66. Among the dead were three civilians who were not among the recruits gathered near the police academy.

Several countries have condemned the terrorist attack on the police academy in Yemen. The United Nations, too, condoled the deaths of the 37 people who died in the attack.

[Image via BBC News]