Sana'a, Yemen - Three soldiers were killed and four others
injured Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded next to a police
vehicle in the historical city of Marib, north-east of the Yemeni
capital Sana'a, officials said.
The bomb was placed at a crossroad where police patrol parks daily
to secure convoys of tourists touring the historical sites.
'Three soldiers were killed and four others injured,' said a local
official, asking not to be named. He said initial investigation
suggests that the bomb was detonated by a remote control.
Witnesses had earlier said four soldiers were killed when the
bomb went off as the vehicle parked during a routine patrol mission.
They said the blast took place at around 08:30 am (0530 GMT) in
the main street of the city.
'The explosion turned the car into a twisted pile of metal in the
parking space,' one witness said.
He said police officers cordoned off the area and forensic experts
were seen searching it.
Police officials confirmed the reported attack, but said it was
premature to blame any group.
Marib, some 190 kilometres from Sana'a, is seen as one of the
strongholds of al-Qaeda in Yemen.
Al-Qaeda has recently claimed responsibility for a series of
attacks against foreign targets in Sana'a, including one on a
high-security residential complex housing US and other Westerner
citizens.
Marib was also the scene of a deadly al-Qaeda-linked attack on a
Spanish tourist convoy last July, which left eight Spanish tourists
dead.
In September 2006, two al-Qaeda suicide attackers blew up an
explosives-laden pickup in the Safer oil refinery in the province.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story