ISIL Claims Responsibility for Mosque Attack

28 Dead in Sanaa Attack

The Yemen’s branch of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for two bombings today at a Shia mosque in northern Sanaa, killing 28 people and wounding 75. (Saba News Agency/Reuters, 2 September)

The al-Moayyad Mosque, run by the Houthis, has previously been targeted by ISIL, who regards the Houthis as heretics.

The Houthis, or the Ansar Allah, took control of Sanaa by force last September, starting a civil war in Yemen that was escalated in March when a coalition of Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, intervened militarily to retake territories captured by the insurgents. More than 4,500 people have been killed in the conflict since Sanaa takeover a year ago.

File photo: The scene after a deadly attack at al-Moayyad Mosque in March 2015. Today ISIL took responsibility for double bombings targeting the same mosque; 28 people killed, 75 wounded.