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 "As part of the policy of targeting the operation rooms of
pilotless planes, the mujahideen (holy fighters) have heavily struck
one of these rooms in the Ministry of Defence headquarters," Ansar
al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) said in a Twitter message
posted early on Friday.
The group is an offshoot of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
(AQAP).
"Such joint military locations which participate with the Americans
in their war against this Muslim nation are a legitimate target for
our operations," another tweet said.
Thursday's attack, in which 167 people were wounded, was carried out
by a suicide bomber and gunmen wearing army uniforms. Some of the
dead were foreign medics, including German, Vietnamese, Indian,
Filipino nationals.
The U.S. military raised its alert status in the region after the
coordinated strikes on Yemen, which is also home to what Washington
has called the most active arm of al Qaeda.
The security threat is an international concern. The impoverished
country shares a long border with Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil
exporter, and sits close to key shipping lanes.
Violence is common in Yemen, where an interim government is fighting
southern secessionists and northern Houthi rebels in addition to al
Qaeda-linked militants, who are seeking to overthrow the government
and impose their version of Islamic law.
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The country is also facing severe economic problems inherited from
former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who was forced out of office by
a popular uprising in 2011.
Islamist insurgents took advantage of the chaos triggered by Saleh's
overthrow to seize several southern cities, but were driven out in
2012 in a government offensive aided by U.S. drone strikes.
Al Qaeda militants have since killed hundreds of Yemeni soldiers and
members of the security forces in a series of attacks, particularly
in the southern provinces of the country.
In July last year, a suicide bomber wearing a Yemeni army uniform
killed more than 90 people rehearsing for a military parade in the
capital. Al Qaeda later claimed responsibility.
(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari, Writing by Mahmoud Habboush; editing
by Patrick Graham)
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