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2 Killed in Car Bomb Attack Near Mosque Used by Houthis


Yemenis surround the wreckage of a vehicle outside the Kobbat al-Mehdi Shi'ite mosque after a car bomb targeting the area killed two people in the capital Sana'a, June 20, 2015.
Yemenis surround the wreckage of a vehicle outside the Kobbat al-Mehdi Shi'ite mosque after a car bomb targeting the area killed two people in the capital Sana'a, June 20, 2015.

Islamic State group said it was behind a car bomb that exploded in Yemen's capital Sana'a Saturday near the Qiba al-Mahdi mosque, killing two people and wounding six others, witnesses and a security source told Reuters.

The group said in a statement published on militant Twitter accounts that the attack was targeting the Houthi militia, whose fighters have used the mosque, located in the old city of Sana'a.

On Wednesday the Sunni Muslim jihadist group claimed responsibility for four car bombs that detonated near mosques used by the Houthis and the group's headquarters in Sana'a, killing two and injuring about 60 people.

The Houthis, who are mainly drawn from the Shi'ite Zaydi sect and are considered heretics by the Islamic State group, took control of Sana'a in September, a move that culminated in a messy civil war and months of airstrikes by a Saudi Arabia-led coalition.

Geneva talks

U.N. sponsored talks in Geneva between Yemen's warring parties ended Friday without a deal.

The Houthis are allied to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who still has the loyalty of much of the army.

They are fighting President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is exiled in Riyadh, as well as southern separatists, tribal factions and other political groups.

Two coalition air raids early Saturday hit the al-Dulaimi air base near Sana'a's international airport, while several others targeted Saada in northern Yemen and areas near the border with Saudi Arabia, witnesses and the Houthis said.

In Marib, a region east of Sana'a contested in fighting for the past three months, 15 Houthis and four tribal fighters were killed in clashes on Saturday morning, tribal sources told Reuters.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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