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2008 attack on the United States embassy in Yemen

Coordinates: 15°22′24″N 44°13′48″E / 15.3732°N 44.2299°E / 15.3732; 44.2299
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2008 attack on the United States embassy in Yemen
Part of the al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen
Map
LocationDhahr Himyar District, Sanaa, Yemen
Coordinates15°22′24″N 44°13′48″E / 15.3732°N 44.2299°E / 15.3732; 44.2299
Date17 September 2008 (2008-09-17)
c. 09:15 a.m. AST (UTC+03:00)
TargetUS embassy
Attack type
Suicide car bombing, mass shooting
WeaponsCar bombs, rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles
Deaths19 (including 7 attackers)
Injured16
Perpetrator Al-Qaeda in the Southern Arabian Peninsula
No. of participants
7

On 17 September 2008, a group of seven militants attacked the United States embassy in Sanaa, Yemen. The attackers first attempted to infiltrate the embassy compound disguised as security forces, but later resorted to an attempt to breach the wall of the embassy with a suicide car bomb after they were compromised, though the bombing failed as the vehicle had detonated from an inner security checkpoint before reaching the target. The attack killed 19 people, including the attackers, and injured 16, though no embassy staff of diplomats were killed or injured.

While initially claimed by a previously unknown group, responsibility for the attack was later attributed to al-Qaeda in the Southern Arabian Peninsula (AQSAP).

Background

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The embassy was previously targeted in an attack on 18 March, though the mortar shells fired at the embassy missed it and instead hit a girls school nearby, injuring 13 children.[1] The attack, as well as another targeting a residential compound housing Americans workers in April were attributed to the Soldier's Brigade of Yemen, an offshoot of AQSAP.[2] On 11 August, five militants including group leader Hamza al-Quyati was killed in a raid by Yemeni security forces in Tareem, Hadhramaut.[3][4] The group issued a statement on 23 August vowing to continue its attacks if Yemeni authorities did not free imprisoned militants.[5][6]

Attack

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The attack began at 09:15 a.m. AST (UTC+3) when militants dressed in army uniforms and armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles opened fire on a security checkpoint at the main gate of the compound from a car on the street outside the embassy.[7][8] The militants began firing at the checkpoint, which is located 250 meters from the actual embassy,[9] after their vehicle which was made to look like a police car was denied entrance.[10][6] As the guards returned fire the vehicle carrying the militants, which was also a SVBIED, exploded near the guard post at the gate.[11] First responders and additional security forces responding to the attack came under sniper fire from across the street.[12][13]

Amid the gunfight, a second SVBIED drove through the gate and checkpoint and detonated itself near a sidewalk of a civilian entrance to the embassy after hitting a ring of protective concrete blocks surrounding it.[3][11][8] The car bomb failed to damage the outer wall of the embassy, which was its intended target.[12] The gun battle between the four militants and security forces lasted between 15 to 20 minutes with three additional explosions being heard by locals.[14][15]

Casualties

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Along with six attackers (one of whom was wearing an explosive belt), six members of the Yemeni security forces including one embassy guard were killed in the attack along with four civilians waiting in line outside the embassy, one of whom was an Indian national visiting for business purposes.[16][13][17] Three police officers and 13 civilians were injured in the attack, among them including women and children from houses across the street from the embassy.[18] The civilians were taken to the Republican Hospital in Sanaa.[19]

No American diplomats or embassy employees were killed or wounded in the attack.[3] A fifth civilian later succumbed to their injuries on 18 September, raising the death toll to 17.[8] Another person wounded in the attack was pronounced dead by 22 September.[20] Later evaluations determined that there were seven militants involved in the attack, leaving the final death toll at 19 people.[21]

Among the civilians killed included US citizen Susan Elbaneh along with her husband.[22] Elbanah, an 18-year-old Yemeni-American high school senior and native of Lackawanna, New York, had went to the embassy in Yemen in order to help her husband, whom she had wed less than a month prior in an arranged marriage,[23] sign paperwork to attain approval for moving to the US.[13] The two were reportedly waiting in line outside the embassy when they were killed.[24] Elbanah was a distant relative of Lackawanna Six al-Qaeda supporter Jaber Elbaneh who was incarcerated in Yemen at the time, though her family stated that she had no relationship with him and was a "victim of terrorism."[23][24]

Responsibility

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Immediately after the attack, a little-known group called Islamic Jihad in Yemen claimed responsibility for conducting it in a statement posted online.[25] The group threatened to conduct further attacks on the British, Saudi and Emirati embassies in Sanaa among others if their jailed members were not released within two days.[26][27]

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack and another US counterterrorism official said that despite the fact that it was too early to attribute blame to it, the attack bore “all the hallmarks” of al-Qaeda, citing "multiple vehicle-borne devices, along with personnel on foot."[12][28] Intelligence consulting firm Stratfor referred to the attack as "complex" and attributed it to "jihadists affiliated with the Yemeni node of al-Qaeda."[7] AQSAP later claimed responsibility for the attack in the November issue of their digital magazine Sada al-Malahem.[29][30] Released on 15 November, the magazine provides a detailed description as to how the militants, led by Latf Muhammad Abu Abd al-Rahman, breached the embassy.[21]

Investigation

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A Yemeni security official said that a team of FBI investigators had been dispatched to participate in the attack's investigation.[8] However, cooperation between Yemeni and American investigators had waned by the end of the year.[30]

By 18 September, Yemeni authorities had arrested 30 people in connection to the attack.[27] On 22 September, the Yemeni Interior Ministry stated that they were holding six key suspects in the attack, one of whom was Abu Ghaith al-Yamani, a militant who signed the statement for Islamic Jihad claiming the attack. According to the ministry, a total of 50 people were arrested.[31] Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh referred to the six as an Israeli intelligence-linked terrorist cell during a speech on 7 October, to which Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor responded by calling the accusations "far-fetched."[31][32]

On 1 November, a Yemeni security official stated that the attackers were trained at al-Qaeda camps in Hadhramaut and Marib Governorates and that three of the militants had recently returned from fighting in Iraq.[33]

On 10 January 2009, the trial for three of the six suspects had begun, with the Yemeni government holding them responsible for collaborating with Israeli intelligence in "spreading false news of attacks on government buildings, embassies and foreign interests in Yemen between May and September 2008" and claiming the attack on the US embassy on behalf of Islamic Jihad.[34] On 23 March, the court sentenced one of the men, Bassam al-Haidari, to death, while giving out a five year and three year prison sentence for Ali al-Mahfal and Ammar al-Raimi respectively.[35] Al-Haidari's death sentence was upheld by a court decision on 2 April 2010.[36]

Aftermath

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Reactions

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President Saleh vowed to track down the perpetrators of the attack and stated that "attacks against foreigners damage our nation, our national interests, and national stability," during a speech in al-Hudaydah.[37] Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said the attack was "a desperate operation by terrorist elements who are responding to successful government measures that have resulted in the elimination of terrorist groups."[9]

The US State Department advised American citizens to avoid unessential travel to Yemen and gave non-emergency embassy personnel authorization to leave the country.[37][8] US embassies in other Gulf countries issued an advisory for Americans to “remain alert to personal security.”[8] The US embassy issued a statement after the attack condemning it and announcing a joint investigation with Yemeni authorities to "bring the perpetrators of this heinous terrorist crime to justice."[38]

President George W. Bush labeled the attack as "a reminder that we are at war with extremists who will murder innocent people to achieve their ideological objectives” during an appearance at the White House with Army General David H. Petraeus.[12] Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke to President Saleh through a phone call to "reinforce the importance of counterterrorism cooperation" according to the State Department.[39]

Statements of condemnation were issued by the United Nations,[40] Japan[41] and Canada[42] among other countries.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "13 hurt in Yemen attack; U.S. Embassy thought target". CNN. 2008-03-18. Archived from the original on 2008-03-23. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  2. ^ "Qaeda claims attack on Italian embassy in Yemen". Reuters. 2008-05-03. Archived from the original on 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
  3. ^ a b c Worth, Robert F. (2008-09-17). "10 Are Killed in Bombings at Embassy in Yemen". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  4. ^ Arrabyee, Nasser (2008-09-26). "Soldiers killed in embassy attack buried among martyrs". Gulf News. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  5. ^ Hill, Ginny (2008-08-29). "Yemen's fight against resurgent Al Qaeda". The Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Archived from the original on 2024-10-16. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  6. ^ a b MacLeod, Scott (2008-09-17). "In Yemen, a Massacre of Americans Is Averted". TIME. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  7. ^ a b Bauer, Shane (2008-09-18). "U.S. Embassy hit in Yemen, raising militancy concerns". The Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Archived from the original on 2024-11-13. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Sweep Nets 25 Arrests After U.S. Embassy Attack". PBS News. 2008-09-18. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  9. ^ a b Derhally, Massoud A.; Hall, Camilla (2008-09-17). "U.S.'s Yemen Embassy Attacked by Militants; 16 Killed (Update5)". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  10. ^ "Yemen arrests 30 people over US embassy attack". Al Arabiya. 2008-09-18. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  11. ^ a b Knickmeyer, Ellen (2008-09-17). "Attack Against U.S. Embassy In Yemen Blamed on Al-Qaeda". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2024-12-27. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  12. ^ a b c d Bauer, Shane; Daragahi, Borzou (2008-09-18). "U.S Embassy attacked in Yemen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  13. ^ a b c "Deadly attack on US Embassy in Yemen". ABC7 New York. 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  14. ^ Knights, Michael (2008-09-24). "U.S. Embassy Bombing in Yemen: Counterterrorism Challenges in Weak States". The Washington Institute. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  15. ^ Mojalli, Almigdad (2008-09-18). "American embassy in Sana'a under attack". Yemen Times. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  16. ^ Orr, James (2008-09-17). "Deadly explosions rock US embassy in Yemen". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  17. ^ Coker, Margaret (2008-09-18). "Militants Attack U.S. Embassy in Yemen, Killing 16". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  18. ^ Al-Mahdi, Khaled (2008-09-18). "US Embassy in Yemen attacked: US condemns assault that killed 16". Arab News. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  19. ^ "Attack at embassy in Yemen". The Denver Post. 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  20. ^ "Six held in Yemen over attack on US Embassy". Arab News. 2008-09-23. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  21. ^ a b "Al-Qaeda says seven killed in attack on US embassy in Yemen". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2008-11-15. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  22. ^ "U.S. woman among embassy attack victims". CNN. 2008-09-18. Archived from the original on 2008-09-20. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  23. ^ a b Knickmeyer, Ellen (2008-09-19). "Toll in Yemen Rises, Includes American". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
  24. ^ a b Watson, Ivan (2008-09-29). "Embassy Attack Marks Rise Of Al-Qaida In Yemen". NPR. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  25. ^ "Yemen arrests 19 after US embassy attack". The Telegraph. 2008-09-17. Archived from the original on 2023-05-23. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  26. ^ "Car bomb explodes near US embassy in Sanaa". France 24. 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  27. ^ a b "Yemen arrests 30 after U.S. embassy attack". Reuters. 2008-09-18. Archived from the original on 2008-09-21. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  28. ^ Pleming, Sue (2008-09-17). "U.S. sees signs of al Qaeda in Yemen attacks". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2021-05-17. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  29. ^ "The terrorist attack on the American embassy in Yemen – the Modus Operandi and significance" (PDF). International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. 2008. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  30. ^ a b "Country Reports on Terrorism 2008 - Yemen". United States Department of State. 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  31. ^ a b "Yemen officials say 'Israel-linked' terror cell broken apart". Taipei Times. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  32. ^ "Yemen seizes 'Israel-linked' cell". BBC News. 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  33. ^ "Yemen identifies U.S. embassy attackers". NBC News. 2008-11-01. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  34. ^ "Yemen tries Islamists for alleged contact with Olmert". Ynet. 2009-01-10. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  35. ^ "Yemen court hands death sentence in Israel spy case". Reuters. 2009-03-23. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  36. ^ Murdock, Heather (2010-04-02). "Yemen Court Upholds Death Sentence for Man Accused of Contacting Israel". Voice of America. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  37. ^ a b "Yemeni President Vows More Arrests in US Embassy Attack". Voice of America. 2009-11-01. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  38. ^ "Press Statement - Attack on U.S. Embassy, Sana'a". Embassy of the United States, Sana’a, Yemen. 2008-09-17. Archived from the original on 2008-09-21. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  39. ^ "Yemen attack brings fears of more terror". NBC News. 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  40. ^ "Security Council Press Statement on Terrorist Attack in Yemen". United Nations Security Council. 2008-09-18. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  41. ^ "Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the Attack on the US Embassy in Yemen". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 2008-09-18. Archived from the original on 2023-03-23. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  42. ^ "Canada Condemns Attack on U.S. Embassy in Yemen". Global Affairs Canada. 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
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