Al-Qaeda takes a bite at the NDC
Analysts baffled by police academy bombing
Wednesday’s attack in Sana’a remains shrouded in ambiguity.
Minister of Interior General Abulkadir Kahtan has publicly said the explosion resulted from a bomb planted in the accumulated garbage near the policy academy gate.
There are inconsistent analyses about the bombing. Nabeel Al-Sharjabi, a political science professor at Sana'a University, said the blast occurred in spite of intensive security measures; security forces have recently achieved exceptional victories against Al-Qaeda. Al-Sharjabi also said the explosion's time and location indicates involvement by groups other than Al-Qaeda, working to help Al-Qaeda execute the operation.
He said the execution of the bombing was very professional, which indicates that some security figures were complicit in the planning or the implementation of the attack, which left at least nine dead and 19 wounded.
Al-Sharjabi said it is expected that Yemen will witness more similar blasts because of Al-Qaeda’s recent slope toward disintegration. He said Al-Qaeda militants endeavor to flee to many governorates through the facilitation provided by some former regime affiliates.
Aish Awas, a security expert in Saba Strategic Studies Center said, “The bombing at the police academy is the same as the Al-Sabaeen Square bombing in the sense that both bombings targeted soldiers and cadets who have no relation with terrorism.”
Awas questioned why Al-Qaeda is targeting people unaffiliated with extremism, as it suggests that Al-Qaeda is adopting the same strategy it focused on in Iraq.
Awas said it is clear that Al-Qaeda operatives carried out the bombing.
“The one who did the bombing might not be a suicide bomber,” he said. “The explosives may have been hidden inside a wheelchair or inside garbage bin.”
A funeral ceremony for the nine cadets killed in the bombing was held Saturday in Sana’a.
They were buried in Martyrs’ Cemetery. Military forces were deployed around the cemetery, and all streets leading to the location were closed in anticipation of any suicide attacks that could have occurred during the funeral ceremony.
