Greater than one hundred thirty lifeless in blasts at Shiite mosques in Yemen – USA TODAY

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More than 130 dead in blasts at Shiite mosques in Yemen

More than 100 people were killed in Yemen’s capital after suicide bombers targeted Shiite rebel-controlled mosques packed with worshipers.

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A television network owned by Yemen’s Shiite rebels says a total of 137 people were killed and 345 injured in quadruple suicide bombings that hit a pair of mosques controlled by the rebels in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital. (March 20) AP

Yemenis look at the bodies of victims of a triple suicide attack targeting two Houthi mosques at a hospital in Sana’a, the capital.(Photo: Yahya Arhab, epa)

Suicide bombers killed more than 130 worshipers in two Shiite mosques in Yemen’s capital Friday, one of the deadliest attacks in the war-torn nation’s history.

The bombings could trigger new sectarian violence in the mostly Sunni nation under assault from Shiite rebels known as the Houthis.

Al-Masirah TV, a network owned by the Houthi rebels, said 137 were killed and 345 were injured when four suicide bombers attacked the Badr and Al Hashoosh mosques in Sanaa, the Associated Press reported. A fifth suicide attack at another mosque was foiled in the northern city of Saada, the network said.

The two mosques were attacked during Friday midday prayers, the busiest time of the week. While they are both controlled by the rebels, Sunni worshippers also attend services there.

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A group claiming to represent the Yemeni branch of the Islamic State — composed of Sunni extremists — claimed responsibility for the attack, describing it as a “blessed operation” against the “dens of the Shiites” in an online statement, the Associated Press reported. The claim could not be independently verified.

If true, the bombing would mark the first major attack by Islamic State supporters in Yemen. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the U.S. was investigating the claims, but has seen no indications of an operational link between the militants and the attacks, according to the Associated Press.

“It does appear that these kinds of claims are often made for a perception that it benefits their propaganda efforts,” Earnest said.

The Houthis, backed by Iran’s Shiite government, took over the capital in September and forced the nation’s president to flee last month.

The rebels control at least nine of Yemen’s 21 provinces. They’ve seized parts of the U.S.-backed government, threatening a key American anti-terrorism partner in the region. The nation is home to a powerful branch of al-Qaeda, a Sunni group that is the sworn enemy of the Houthis and a rival to the Islamic State.

A witness at the Al-Hashoosh mosque said he was thrown 7 feet away by the explosion.

“The heads, legs and arms of the dead people were scattered on the floor of the mosque,” Mohammed al-Ansi told the AP. Many people were injured by glass falling from the mosque’s windows, he said.

Hospitals urged residents to donate blood to help deal with the large number of wounded, Reuters reported.

The suicide bombings come amid ongoing violence in the country. The international airport in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden was forced to close Thursday when forces loyal to Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, waged a gunbattle with security forces loyal to the current president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. That incident left 13 people dead.

Reuters reported warplanes attacked Aden on Friday, targeting the presidential palace for the second day in a row. Hadi fled to Aden last month after being put under house arrest by the Houthis and remains the country’s internationally recognized president.

Later Friday, Yemeni security officials told AP that al-Qaeda’s branch took control of the southern city of al-Houta after security forces surrendered.

Diplomats from the United States and several European nations fled Yemen in February amid embassy closures resulting from deteriorating security conditions.

Contributing: Jim Michaels, Katharine Lackey

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