Houthi Rebels Blame US for Car Bombing Attack in North Yemen

Sees Attack as Effort to Prop Up Saleh Regime

by Jason Ditz, August 15, 2011

Yemeni government officials were quick to lay the blame on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) when a reported suicide car bombing killed 14 rebels in the northern Yemeni province of al-Jouf. The rebels themselves, however, see another culprit.

“This is clearly a US intelligence-style criminal act,” insisted a statement from the group, which said the attack was aimed at a government complex in the province, which they are currently in control of. The bombing no longer appears to have been a suicide attack either, but a remote detonated car bombing.

Al-Jouf is just one of many provinces nationwide that have fallen out of the Saleh regime’s control since the protest movement began. The Houthi are unique in that they are a Shi’ite secessionist movement, which might conceivably have given al-Qaeda a reason to target them.

But the Houthis are more used to being targeted by Saleh and his supporters, and while this seems an unusual method for a US attack, they seem quite convinced that this is the case. Though the US has been actively attacking targets in the southwest, they have yet to go after the Houthis.

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