Scores killed as Yemen suicide bomber hits military parade rehearsal

[dipsydoodle]

Source: The Australian

A Yemeni soldier dressed in uniform blew himself up in the middle of an army battalion in Sanaa, killing at least 96 troops and wounding more than 300 others, medical officials said.

The suicide attack was the deadliest in the country's capital since newly-elected President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi pledged to oust al-Qa'ida militants from Yemen's mostly lawless and restive southern and eastern provinces.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the blast which according to witnesses was heard across the city, causing panic among residents.

The unidentified bomber detonated his explosives as soldiers from the government's central security forces, commanded by a nephew of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, rehearsed for an army parade to mark the 22nd anniversary of the unification of north and south Yemen, according to the official.

Read more: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/scores-killed-as-yemen-suicide-bomber-hits-military-parade-rehearsal/story-e6frg6so-1226362781917

[bemildred]

1. Now that's a large security breach.

Around 400 casualties, 25% killed, from one attacker (so they say), and smack in the middle of the "government's central security forces".

It's interesting to watch these tactics from Iraq and Afghanistan proliferate and evolve.

[EFerrari]

7. If any class of mine learned as slowly as the Pentagon

I would have had to flunk them en mass.

[bemildred]

8. For the Pentagon, being "dumb" pays very well.

It's like the "health care" types who keep on with discredited or risky treatments because doing nothing doesn't pay as much. Or "loot wins" as I like to put it.

A Pentagon that learned would be a much smaller and less expensive Pentagon, since the lesson is that conventional arms are not good for all that much in the modern world, whereas the Pentagon's idea is that there is just about nothing that can't be fixed with a sufficient number of soldiers and fancy weapons.

[EFerrari]

9. Good point. n/t

[gratuitous]

2. Maybe if we lob a few more drone missiles in there?

Such pointless violence! Don't those terrorists understand that the approved method of killing people involves remote-controlled missiles fired indiscriminately into occupied buildings? Far less personal risk that way, though I'm sure the number of casualties will be impressive in some circles of our military.

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. Now 101 dead soldiers. AQAP is sending a pretty strong message to the government.

[JackRiddler]

4. Assumptions

Yemen is in the middle of a multi-faction civil war.

[Comrade Grumpy]

12. NY Times: Al Qaeda claims responsibility.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/world/middleeast/suicide-attack-in-yemen.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120522

WASHINGTON — A huge suicide bombing in the heart of Yemen’s capital Monday morning left hundreds dead and wounded, stunning the country’s beleaguered government and delivering a stark setback to the American counterterrorism campaign against Al Qaeda’s regional franchise, which has repeatedly tried to plant bombs on United States-bound jetliners.

Militants allied with Al Qaeda quickly claimed responsibility for the bombing, in which a man disguised as a soldier blew himself up in the midst of a military parade rehearsal near the presidential palace in Sana, the capital. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in years in Yemen, the dirt-poor south Arabian country that is now central to United States concerns about terrorism.

The militant group, which goes by the name Ansar al Shariah, said in a Facebook post that the attack was aimed at Yemen’s defense minister and was intended to retaliate for the government campaign against Al Qaeda’s southern sanctuaries that began this month. The militants appear to be holding out and inflicting heavy losses on Yemen’s weak and divided army, despite a stepped-up United States campaign of drone strikes and military assistance.

The suicide bombing brought scenes of horrific carnage to a central square in Yemen’s capital, which is heavily fortified and had been spared the worst of the insurgent violence.

[JackRiddler]

13. By Facebook post.

That's the source of the story. At least wait for the suicide video release.

[may3rd]

5. ""A Yemeni soldier dressed in uniform ...""

Does this mean they normally wear civilian attire when on duty ?

[bemildred]

10. Turns out he was indeed a member of the force he blew up.

Things get dicey fast when there is a loss of "confidence", and this sort of thing is even worse for "confidence" than the way the "Afghan Army" keeps shooting a few of their "trainers".

[EFerrari]

6. .I miss booking comedy in San Francisco, "Our partnership with the Yemeni people remains unshaken" -

Susan Rice.

[bemildred]

11. LOL.

Indeed, firm as a rock.

Apparently they are holding a scaled down parade today, all the soldiers disarmed no doubt, and there is rioting etc. in the streets.