Car bomb hits Iran envoy home in Yemeni Capital, three killed

Rasa - A large explosion shook Yemen's capital Sanaa on Wednesday targeting the home of the Iranian ambassador causing casualties.

News ID: 1748

Date: 03 December 2014 - 15:09

RNA - Witnesses say the bomb went off outside the building early on Wednesday.

Unconfirmed reports say Iranian envoy Hossein Niknam was not at home when the bomb went off. While Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham says all Iranian diplomats in Yemen are in good health.

Niknam took office as Iran’s new ambassador to Yemen on Monday.

Al-Qaeda militants frequently carry out bomb attacks in Yemen and have been locked in deadly battles with Ansarullah fighters.

Al-Qaeda-linked violence against Yemeni security forces has been growing since February 2012, when President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi came to power in a one-man election backed by Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Hadi replaced long-time dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh who was ousted after a year of mass protests across the country.

Yemen’s central government has so far failed to confront the terrorist threat. Shia Ansarullah fighters, however, have intervened to fill the vacuum and have driven al-Qaeda militants out of many areas in the country.

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