ianstone
10-06-2010, 05:45 AM
Yemen rocket attack damages British Embassy car wounding official and three bystanders
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 10:26 AM on 6th October 2010
Comments (0) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318128/Yemen-rocket-attack-damages-British-Embassy-car-wounding-bystanders.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318128/Yemen-rocket-attack-damages-British-Embassy-car-wounding-bystanders.html)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/06/article-1318128-0B7F0786000005DC-805_233x450.jpg
A British Embassy official and three bystanders have been injured after a rocket attack on a motorcade in Yemen's capital, amid heightened fears about growing Al Qaeda influence in the impoverished Arab nation.
The Foreign Office confirmed that there was an attack on a British Embassy armoured vehicle in San'a, and they believe that the car was targeted.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: 'We can confirm an attack involving a British Embassy vehicle in Sana'a this morning.
'There was one minor casualty among British Embassy staff, and no other casualties.'
The spokeswoman said the employee was inside the car, which was also carrying the British Embassy's deputy chief of mission, at the time of the attack.
Foreign Secretary William Hague told BBC Radio 5: 'All our diplomats there are remaining at home or in the embassy.
'It is a difficult and dangerous place to work.'
Mr Hague said the blast was 'a reminder that we have some way to go' in efforts to make the country safer.
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but Yemeni authorities recently boosted security around embassies in the capital after receiving information that the terror network was planning an attack.
The explosion came a day after a visit by third-ranking U.S. diplomat William Burns to discuss the security situation and less than six months after a suicide bomber attacked the British ambassador's car in San'a. Burns said on Tuesday that the U.S. will continue to support in its fight against terrorism.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/06/article-1318128-0B7F0CBB000005DC-290_468x286.jpg Rocket attack: Three bystanders were wounded when the British Embassy motorcade was targetted
Yemen says it is waging an aggressive campaign to uproot Al Qaeda, and Washington has earmarked some $150 million (£95 million) in military assistance to the government to help combat the threat with training, equipment and intelligence help.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an offshoot of Osama bin Laden's terror network, was formed more than a year ago when Yemen and Saudi militant groups merged.
Militants are believed to have built up strongholds in remote parts of the country, allying with powerful tribes that resent the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/06/article-1318128-094F466F000005DC-750_233x423.jpg Suicide attack: The UK Ambassador to Yemen, 52-year-old Tim Torlot, was unharmed after his armoured car was targeted in April by a suicide bomber
The group's fighters attacked the U.S. Embassy in San'a twice in 2008, and earlier this year a number of Western embassies, including the U.S. and British, shut down for days in response to threats of attack.
In April, the British ambassador in Yemen escaped unharmed after a suicide bomber wearing a school uniform detonated an explosives belt.
The blast, which bore the hallmarks of Al Qaeda, happened as Tim Torlot, 52, travelled to work in Sana'a.
Mr Torlot's armoured car was travelling through a neighbourhood in the eastern part of Sana'a known to be popular with militants when the explosion happened.
The bomber - a 22-year-old man - was killed. The suicide bombing was the first of its kind in the capital in a year.
It cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Yemeni government's U.S.-backed campaign against Al Qaeda militants, who have found a haven in parts of the rugged, mountainous nation where the central government's control is weak.
And it came after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab - the man suspected of attempting to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Day - reportedly told investigators that he was supplied with his bomb by Al Qaeda members in Yemen.
Nigerian-born Abdulmutallab's family have also suggested that he became radicalised during a visit last year to Yemen, where he was supposedly studying Arabic but is believed to have made contact with some of the estimated 300 Al Qaeda militants based in the country.
In February, the offshoot's military commander, Qassim al-Raimi, warned of further attacks against Americans.
Meanwhile, also in Yemen today, a security guard opened fire inside the compound of Austrian oil and gas group OMV, killing the French head of the company, according to a security source.
The gunman was still inside the compound which was surrounded by government security forces, the source added.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318128/Yemen-rocket-attack-damages-British-Embassy-car-wounding-bystanders.html#ixzz11ZQT2qhP
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 10:26 AM on 6th October 2010
Comments (0) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318128/Yemen-rocket-attack-damages-British-Embassy-car-wounding-bystanders.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318128/Yemen-rocket-attack-damages-British-Embassy-car-wounding-bystanders.html)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/06/article-1318128-0B7F0786000005DC-805_233x450.jpg
A British Embassy official and three bystanders have been injured after a rocket attack on a motorcade in Yemen's capital, amid heightened fears about growing Al Qaeda influence in the impoverished Arab nation.
The Foreign Office confirmed that there was an attack on a British Embassy armoured vehicle in San'a, and they believe that the car was targeted.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: 'We can confirm an attack involving a British Embassy vehicle in Sana'a this morning.
'There was one minor casualty among British Embassy staff, and no other casualties.'
The spokeswoman said the employee was inside the car, which was also carrying the British Embassy's deputy chief of mission, at the time of the attack.
Foreign Secretary William Hague told BBC Radio 5: 'All our diplomats there are remaining at home or in the embassy.
'It is a difficult and dangerous place to work.'
Mr Hague said the blast was 'a reminder that we have some way to go' in efforts to make the country safer.
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but Yemeni authorities recently boosted security around embassies in the capital after receiving information that the terror network was planning an attack.
The explosion came a day after a visit by third-ranking U.S. diplomat William Burns to discuss the security situation and less than six months after a suicide bomber attacked the British ambassador's car in San'a. Burns said on Tuesday that the U.S. will continue to support in its fight against terrorism.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/06/article-1318128-0B7F0CBB000005DC-290_468x286.jpg Rocket attack: Three bystanders were wounded when the British Embassy motorcade was targetted
Yemen says it is waging an aggressive campaign to uproot Al Qaeda, and Washington has earmarked some $150 million (£95 million) in military assistance to the government to help combat the threat with training, equipment and intelligence help.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an offshoot of Osama bin Laden's terror network, was formed more than a year ago when Yemen and Saudi militant groups merged.
Militants are believed to have built up strongholds in remote parts of the country, allying with powerful tribes that resent the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/06/article-1318128-094F466F000005DC-750_233x423.jpg Suicide attack: The UK Ambassador to Yemen, 52-year-old Tim Torlot, was unharmed after his armoured car was targeted in April by a suicide bomber
The group's fighters attacked the U.S. Embassy in San'a twice in 2008, and earlier this year a number of Western embassies, including the U.S. and British, shut down for days in response to threats of attack.
In April, the British ambassador in Yemen escaped unharmed after a suicide bomber wearing a school uniform detonated an explosives belt.
The blast, which bore the hallmarks of Al Qaeda, happened as Tim Torlot, 52, travelled to work in Sana'a.
Mr Torlot's armoured car was travelling through a neighbourhood in the eastern part of Sana'a known to be popular with militants when the explosion happened.
The bomber - a 22-year-old man - was killed. The suicide bombing was the first of its kind in the capital in a year.
It cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Yemeni government's U.S.-backed campaign against Al Qaeda militants, who have found a haven in parts of the rugged, mountainous nation where the central government's control is weak.
And it came after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab - the man suspected of attempting to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Day - reportedly told investigators that he was supplied with his bomb by Al Qaeda members in Yemen.
Nigerian-born Abdulmutallab's family have also suggested that he became radicalised during a visit last year to Yemen, where he was supposedly studying Arabic but is believed to have made contact with some of the estimated 300 Al Qaeda militants based in the country.
In February, the offshoot's military commander, Qassim al-Raimi, warned of further attacks against Americans.
Meanwhile, also in Yemen today, a security guard opened fire inside the compound of Austrian oil and gas group OMV, killing the French head of the company, according to a security source.
The gunman was still inside the compound which was surrounded by government security forces, the source added.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318128/Yemen-rocket-attack-damages-British-Embassy-car-wounding-bystanders.html#ixzz11ZQT2qhP