One American wounded in Yemen attack; 96 Yemeni soldiers killed in suicide bombing

The Takeaway

The fight between al-Qaeda and the Yemeni government continued Monday morning.

At least 96 soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a rehearsal for a military parade. There is also word that three member of the U.S. military were attacked by al-Qaeda, wounding one of them.

Reuters correspondent Tom Finn said there’s no word yet on whether these two attacks were linked.

“Al-Qaeda is yet to claim responsibility for either, although most people suspect they carried out both attacks,” he said.

The attacks come on the heels of a number of attempted assassinations and kidnappings and increasing violence over the past few weeks.

“The incident, which happened today, though, was on a different scale,” he said. “I’ve just come from a number of hospitals in Sanaa, which are filled with soldiers. We’re talking about hundreds of soldiers who are wounded.”

Finn said the bombing was carried out by a man disguised in a military uniform standing in the middle of the parade, who blew himself up.

Finn, who was at the scene of the attack, said there was blood and pieces of people’s bodies splattered 30 to 40 meters from where the attack took place.

“It was a huge explosion,” he said.

Finn said there was no word on whether he’s a member of the military, or whether he infiltrated a military unit.

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