At least 28 people were wounded today in the latest car bomb attack against the Yemeni capital city of Sanaa, a strike which has been claimed by ISIS, who says it was targeted at “Houthi apostates.”
The bombing struck just outside of a military hospital, and near several major Houthi sites. Among the wounded were a number of mourners, who were mourning the deaths of people killed in previous ISIS attacks.
Though ISIS is not believed to have a huge amount of territory inside Yemen, they have been launching repeated attacks against the Houthis, the same faction being targeted by the Saudi military. ISIS is believed to be trying to use the attacks to build up their presence here, as they have across the region.
Yet al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) remains the dominant jihadist faction in Yemen, controlling much of the country’s tribal regions, and ISIS faces an uphill battle to surpass them in recruiting within Yemen, despite their bigger international footprint.