SANAA, Yemen (MCT) — A rehearsal for a military parade to mark Yemen's national day turned into a scene of carnage Monday when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the presidential palace, killing nearly 100 soldiers and wounding scores more in one of the deadliest attacks in this conflict-wracked nation's recent history.
Ansar al-Shariah, a Yemen-based militant group with links to al-Qaida, took responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement that it was retaliation for an offensive that Yemeni government forces are waging against militants in the country's restive south.
Witnesses said the bomber wore a military uniform when he exploded himself at Sabain Square, a 10-lane road adjacent to the presidential palace that often serves as the venue for government ceremonies. A number of senior military officials, including Nasser Ahmed, the minister of defense, were at the rehearsal but escaped unharmed.
The bomb hurled body parts in all directions throughout an area 200 feet in diameter, and flecks of human remains could be found hours later, despite attempts by government crews to clean the area. The ceremony that had been scheduled for Tuesday to mark Yemen's Unity Day, commemorating the 1990 unification of North and South Yemen after years of civil war, was canceled.
Hospitals in the city struggled to treat the wounded, and doctors cautioned that the death toll would continue to rise because of the severity of some of the victims' injuries.
Monday's attack punctured the tense calm that had held in the capital since the current president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, took over the office in February from Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose three-decade rule came to an end after months of demonstrations and violence. Many saw it as a direct message to Hadi, who declared when he took office that waging war against al-Qaida was a "religious duty."