At least 28 dead in Sanaa mosque attack claimed by ISIL

Multiple blasts caused mass casualties in Yemen's capital.

SANAA // A suicide bomber and a subsequent car bomb killed at least 28 people on Wednesday at a mosque in Yemen’s rebel-held capital, Sanaa, amid the country’s raging civil war, officials said.

Extremist group ISIL quickly claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media message.

The suicide bomber blew himself up inside the mosque during the evening call to prayers, while the car bomb exploded outside an entrance, they said. Medical officials said the death toll may rise with people now in operating rooms in several hospitals.

Witnesses said the car bomb exploded while people were carrying out the wounded from inside the mosque, adding to the casualties.

One witness, Hamid Ali, said the explosions left body parts and bloodied floors in the mosque frequented by both Sunnis and Shiites. Wounded pleaded for help.

An ISIL affiliate has carried out similar bombings in Sanaa this year.

Yemen has been mired in violence since Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, swept down from their stronghold in Saada and captured Sanaa last September.

The Houthis are fighting alongside army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh against forces loyal to exiled president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi as well as southern separatists and local militias. A Saudi Arabia-led and US-backed coalition has been launching air strikes against the rebels since March.

The conflict has killed over 2,100 civilians, according to the United Nations.

Earlier Wednesday, gunmen shot dead two Yemenis working for the International Committee of the Red Cross on Wednesday as they were travelling from the northern Saada province to the capital, Sanaa, the group said.

Rima Kamal, an ICRC spokeswoman in Sanaa, says the two were killed in Amran province.

Both Amran and Saada are fully controlled by the Houthis.

The UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the country, Johannes Van Der Klaauw, and U.N. humanitarian coordinator Stephen O’Brien both condemned the attack on the Red Cross workers.

Saudi Arabia’s civil defence said on Tuesday that seven people were wounded when a missile fired from inside Yemen struck three vehicles in Al Tuwal village in the Jizan border province.

Last month, pro-government forces backed by Saudi Arabia-led air strikes drove the rebels out of Yemen’s southern port city of Aden after heavy fighting.

In Marib province, more than 20 Houthis were killed in ground clashes with pro-government forces and in air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition since Tuesday night, independent security officials and medical officials said. Nine pro-government fighters were also killed in the clashes in the same period, independent security officials and witnesses said.

Pro-government forces, who control the Marib province capital, are preparing for a large attack in the next two days, along with support from the Saudi-led coalition, anti-Houthi officials said. If they successfully clear the province of Houthi forces, the pro-government forces could then proceed to Jawf province, and then to Saada, the Houthis’ stronghold in the north.

* Associated Press