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 The attacks on mosques used by supporters of the Shi'ite Muslim
Houthi fighters who control the city were the deadliest in a
years-long campaign of violence in the country, where Washington has
been waging a drone air war against a local branch of the Sunni
Muslim militant group al Qaeda.
Sectarian unrest has increased in recent months after the
Iran-backed Shi'ite fighters seized the capital last year.
Four bombers wearing explosive belts targeted worshippers in and
around the crowded mosques. State news agency Saba, which is
controlled by the Houthis, put the death toll at 137 and the number
of wounded at 357.
Hospitals were overwhelmed, appealing for blood donors to help treat
the large number of casualties.
A Reuters journalist at the Badr mosque counted at least 25 bloody
bodies lying in the street and inside the building. One man carried
a child in his arms.
Islamic State, the al Qaeda offshoot that controls swathes of Syria
and Iraq and has been attracting followers in other countries,
considers Shi'ites to be heretics.
Both groups have now rallied against the Houthis in Yemen, giving
them the same enemies as the U.S.-backed government in a complex,
multi-sided conflict in the Arab world's poorest country.
"Let the polytheist Houthis know that the soldiers of the Islamic
State will not rest and will not stay still until they extirpate
them," the group said in a statement posted by supporters on
Twitter, claiming responsibility for the attacks.
"God willing, this operation is only a part of the coming flood."
Among the dead was Almortada al-Mahatwary, a leading figure in
Yemen's Shi'ite Zaidi sect, the Houthi-controlled al-Masirah
television channel said.
Badr mosque was hit by two bombers and two others struck a second
mosque. A fifth bomber was killed when he tried to attack a mosque
in Saada province, a northern Houthi stronghold, but the device went
off prematurely, a security source told Reuters.
"I was going to pray at the (Badr) mosque then I heard the first
explosion, and a second later I heard another one," a witness told
Reuters.
Television footage showed young men in traditional Yemeni clothes
carrying lifeless bodies, some dripping with blood, out of the
mosque.
In Washington, the White House condemned the bombings and said it
could not confirm that the attackers were affiliated with Islamic
State.
HURTLING TOWARD CIVIL WAR
Yemen has been hurtling toward civil war since last year, when the
Houthis seized most of the north, including Sanaa.
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a U.S. ally, fled the capital in
February after a month imprisoned by the Houthis under house arrest
and has set up a power base in the southern city of Aden.
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Unidentified warplanes have attacked his Aden palace for the past
two days.
Anti-aircraft guns fired on two planes that dropped bombs on an area
that includes his residence on Friday. He was unharmed, sources at
the presidency said.
While Yemen is one of the main bases of al Qaeda, it has not
previously been known as a major base for Islamic State, the Al
Qaeda offshoot also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Since last year, when Islamic State swept across northern Iraq and
declared a caliphate to rule over all Muslims, militants in other
countries have expressed their support for the group, although it is
not clear if it actually directs them.
In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said there was no
clear operational link between the people who carried out Friday's
attacks in Yemen and Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned "the
terrorist attacks" and called on all sides "to immediately cease all
hostile actions and exercise maximum restraint."
Yemen has been sliding into turmoil since its long serving ruler Ali
Abdullah Saleh was toppled after "Arab Spring" protests that began
in 2011. Saleh is now believed to have allied himself with the
Houthi fighters that he tried to crush while president.
Since fleeing the capital, Hadi has been trying to consolidate his
hold over Aden to challenge the Houthis' ambitions to control the
whole country.
Thirteen people were killed on Thursday when forces loyal to Hadi
fought their way into Aden's international airport and wrested an
adjacent military base from a renegade officer, Aden governor
Abdulaziz bin Habtoor said.
(Additional reporting by Sami Aboudi in Dubai and Omar Fahmy in
Cairo; Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Peter Graff and John
Stonestreet)
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