Yemen authorities have begun searching the capital of Sana'a with the help of the United States to find suspects involved in Thursday's attack against the country's Defense Ministry building that left 52 people dead, including foreigners and aid workers, the Associated Press reported.
The attack on the ministry was claimed by al-Qaida and involved a suicide car bomb and heavy gunfire from surrounding buildings and houses, the AP reported. Yemen security forces raided several buildings and homes in the area shortly after the attack, inciting more clashes which killed 11 suspected militants, and a member of the Special Forces.
Yemen President, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, told United Nation officials on Friday that "a number of assailants have been arrested," adding the "criminals will not escape justice," the AP reported.
The Yemeni branch of al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attack through their Twitter handle and said it targeted the Defense Ministry because it contains drone control rooms and American experts. According to the tweet, any headquarter used by Americans in "their war" are now considered targets, the AP reported.
The U.S. has killed several high-standing militants through the use of drone attacks and have also been aiding Yemen Special Forces in training and monetary support in exchange for information, the AP reported.
Among the 52 dead were foreigners from Germany, Vietnam, India and the Philippines, according to the Yemen Supreme Security Commission, the AP reported. At least two aid workers from Germany, and two doctors from Vietnam were killed with gun shots to the head and chest, a tactic survivors said was used by the attackers specifically for foreigners, the AP reported.
Two military officials said wounded soldiers confirmed the gun men purposefully separated foreign workers inside the hospital and proceeded to shot them in the head and chest, according to the AP. Military officials confirmed the majority of the dead inside the hospital had died from gunshot wounds to the head.
Two nurses from the Philippines working in the hospital located inside the ministry complex were reported dead, but a Phillippines' spokesman from the Department of Foreign Affairs said at least seven Filipinos were killed in the attack, and 11 others were wounded, according to the AP.
Raul Hernandez, the Filipino spokesman, said those killed were among a total of 40 Filipino hospital workers, the AP reported. Hernandez said the other's survived only by pretending to be dead.
Martin Schaefer, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry has ordered any German survivors doing work on behalf of the government to leave Yemen "as quickly as possible" and "until further notice," according to the AP.
Schaefer said the German embassy will still operate with a reduced staff due to security measures.
