Over 130 Shiite Muslims were killed Friday after suicide bombers launched attacks at two mosques in conflict-ridden Yemen.
Midday prayers were underway at the Badr and al-Hashoosh mosques in Sanaa when four attackers detonated their bombs, killing 137 and injuring another 354 people, according to the Associated Press.
A suicide bombing was attempted at another mosque, but that one was thwarted.
A group claiming ties to the Islamic State carried out the attack, one of the deadliest to occur in the Sunni-majority country. The group called the attack a "blessed operation" against the "dens of the Shiites," according to its online statement, the AP reported.
The group's self-proclaimed linked to IS, however, could not be independently confirmed.
Witnesses of Friday's carnage said the first bomb went off when the attacker was caught by security guards at the Badr mosque. Seconds later, another bomber slipped past the guards and blew himself up, the AP reported.
The bombs were "like an earthquake where I felt the ground split and swallow everyone," said Sadek al-Harithi.
Another witness at the al-Hashoosh mosque said the floor was covered in body parts.
"Blood was running like a river," Mohammed al-Ansi said.
In the U.S., White House spokesman Josh Earnest said they have not found any immediate link between the Islamic Sate and the Yemen group. The U.S. is still looking into the group's background to substantiate its claims but it's possible the militants made it up.
"It does appear that these kinds of claims are often made for a perception that it benefits their propaganda efforts," Earnest told the AP.
If the link is credible, it would be the Islamic State's first deadly attack in Yemen, which is already a stronghold for other terrorist organizations including al-Qaeda and the Shiite rebel group Houthis.
Rebels from that group have seized large swaths of Yemen, including the capital and at least nine of the country's 21 provinces.
The Islamic State, which considers Houthis its rival, has previously vowed to attack the group in Yemen, according to the AP. Both mosques targeted on Friday are run by Shiite Houthis.
