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| Version 6 | Version 7 |
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| Blasts rock US embassy in Yemen | Blasts rock US embassy in Yemen |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A car bomb targeting the US embassy in Yemen detonated outside the compound's security gate causing "multiple casualties", US officials said. | A car bomb targeting the US embassy in Yemen detonated outside the compound's security gate causing "multiple casualties", US officials said. |
| A series of explosions followed but officials were unable to confirm whether they were separate attacks. | A series of explosions followed but officials were unable to confirm whether they were separate attacks. |
| Hundreds of heavily-armed troops have now surrounded the embassy compound in the capital, Sanaa. | Hundreds of heavily-armed troops have now surrounded the embassy compound in the capital, Sanaa. |
| Eyewitnesses say an exchange of gunfire between embassy guards and unidentified attackers followed the first blast. | Eyewitnesses say an exchange of gunfire between embassy guards and unidentified attackers followed the first blast. |
| The attack occurred at about 0830 local time (0530 GMT). | The attack occurred at about 0830 local time (0530 GMT). |
| A US spokesman inside the embassy, Ryan Gliha, was unable to confirm reports of a gun battle. | A US spokesman inside the embassy, Ryan Gliha, was unable to confirm reports of a gun battle. |
| He said the explosions had caused "multiple casualties", although he was unable to give any information on the numbers or nationalities. | |
| Mr Gliha said the embassy building itself had not been damaged as it was set far back from the security gate. | Mr Gliha said the embassy building itself had not been damaged as it was set far back from the security gate. |
| He described the atmosphere inside the embassy as calm, adding that arrangements were being made so that staff could "go about their business in a safe manner". | He described the atmosphere inside the embassy as calm, adding that arrangements were being made so that staff could "go about their business in a safe manner". |
| Terrorism threat | Terrorism threat |
| A group calling itself the Islamic Jihad in Yemen said it carried out a bomb and rocket attack on the embassy, and threatened to attack other foreign missions in Yemen, Arabic TV channel al-Arabiya reported. | |
| The authenticity of the claim could not be immediately verified. | |
| It is the second attack on the embassy this year. | |
| The US ordered the evacuation of non-essential personnel from Yemen in April after mortar bombs were fired towards the embassy. They missed but hit a nearby school. | |
| The government of Yemen, which backs America's "war on terror", has often blamed al-Qaeda for attacks on Western targets in the country. | The government of Yemen, which backs America's "war on terror", has often blamed al-Qaeda for attacks on Western targets in the country. |
| US special forces have been helping the government fight the Islamist militants. | US special forces have been helping the government fight the Islamist militants. |
| In October 2000, 17 US sailors were killed when suicide bombers blew themselves up on an inflatable raft next to the destroyer USS Cole in the southern Yemeni port of Aden. | In October 2000, 17 US sailors were killed when suicide bombers blew themselves up on an inflatable raft next to the destroyer USS Cole in the southern Yemeni port of Aden. |
| The Yemeni government has also been fighting an insurgency in the north of the country by Shia rebels, whom it accuses of trying to seize power and impose religious law. | |
| The rebels accuse the government of corruption and discrimination. But they are particularly angered by the government's current alliance with the United States. | |
| Hundreds of people have been killed since the rebellion began in 2004. |