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An al-Qaida (web|news) terror cell was behind a mortar strike against the U.S. embassy in Yemen that missed its target but killed a security guard and wounded 13 students at a nearby school, an Interior Ministry official said Saturday. The official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said al-Qaida militant Hamza al-Dayan launched three mortars at the embassy Tuesday before fleeing the scene in a vehicle with three accomplices. The mortar shells crashed into the school in the downtown Sawan district of San'a, killing the security guard and wounding 13 schoolgirls, three grievously.
On Thursday, the police arrested five suspects in the attack. It was not clear if they have any connection to al-Dayan and his men, who remain at large.
U.S. officials did not immediately respond to request for comment on Saturday. The embassy has informed its nonessential staff they are permitted to leave Yemen if they want to.
Little is known of al-Dayan, the alleged cell leader. He has been wanted by the Yemeni government, though it was not immediately clear what for.
The heavily guarded U.S. Embassy in Yemen has been targeted in the past.
In March 2002, a Yemeni man lobbed a sound grenade into the embassy grounds a day after Vice President Dick Cheney (web|news|bio) made a stop for talks with officials at the San'a airport. The attacker, who allegedly sought to retaliate against what he called American bias toward Israel, was sentenced to 10 years in prison but the sentence was later reduced to seven years.
In March 2003, two people were fatally shot and dozens more were injured as police clashed with demonstrators trying to storm the embassy when tens of thousands rallied against the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq (web|news) .
In 2006, a gunman opened fire outside the embassy but was shot and arrested by Yemeni guards. The gunman, armed with a Kalashnikov rifle, claimed he wanted to kill Americans.
Al-Qaida has an active presence in Yemen despite government efforts to destroy it.
The group was blamed for the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole destroyer in the Yemeni port of Aden that killed 17 American sailors and an attack on a French oil tanker that killed one person two years later.
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