# 2009 Yemeni tourist attacks

Two suicide bombings took place in March 2009 targeting nationals of South Korea in Yemen. The first, which occurred on 15 March, targeted a group of South Korean tourists visiting the city of Shibam in Hadhramaut Governorate. The bomber detonated an explosive belt as he was taking a picture with the tourists, killing four of them along with their Yemeni tour guide and injuring three more. On 18 March, another suicide bomber attempted to attack a convoy of South Korean investigators and relatives of the victims in Sanaa, though the bombing failed and resulted in no casualties expect for the perpetrator. Both attacks were claimed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

## Background

AQAP was formed two months prior to the attack in a merger of al-Qaeda's branches in Yemen and in Saudi Arabia. Leaders of al-Qaeda in Yemen had frequently called upon attacks against non-Muslim foreigners within the Arabian Peninsula. The group had previously launched a suicide bombing killing Spanish tourists in Marib in July 2007 and an attack on a convoy of Belgian tourists travelling through Wadi Dawan in January 2008, the latter being approximately 2.5 miles from Shibam.
Shibam, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Yemen for its tall mud-brick buildings built in the 16th century.

## Shibam attack
### Bombing

The attack targeted a group of 16 South Korean tourists as well as two travel agency staff travelling through Shibam a via a convoy of jeeps. It occurred as the convoy had reached the Khazzan hill which overlooks the city. While viewing the sunset from the hill, a teenager and a man in his early forties claiming to be his father approached the tourists and began a conversation with them. The teenager asked to be photographed with the tourists, to which they obliged. At around 5:50 p.m. AST (UTC+3), the teenager detonated an explosive belt while posing with the tourists in front of the cities buildings. The blast was strong enough to be heard more than 2 miles away in the al-Qubah district of Shibam. The remaining tourists were transferred to a nearby hospital immediately after the attack.

### Casualties

The blast killed four tourists, two men and two women, and injured an additional four South Koreans. The killed tourists were identified as 70-year-old Park Bong-gan, 64-year-old Kim In-hye, 59-year-old Joo Yong-cheol and 55-year-old Shin Hye-yoon. The latter two were reportedly a married couple.
A Yemeni tour guide wounded in the attack later died of his injuries in hospital, raising the death toll to five. The number of injuries was later revised to three tourists.

### Perpetrator

An initial report on the attack from the state-sponsored Saba News Agency suggested that the bomber was "tricked into wearing an explosives vest." However, in their claim of responsibility, AQAP stated that the perpetrator "carried out a martyrdom-seeking operation" and referred to him as "Abu Obeida al-Jarrah."
Conflicting reports emerged of the bomber's identity, one report identifying him as Ali Muhsin al-Ahmad, a 19-year-old Yemeni from Taiz who travelled to Somalia in January to train for the attack. Before the attack, the bomber allegedly wrote a letter to his mother stating that his family would never see him again and that he was on the "true path."

### Aftermath

The Yemeni government immediately launched an inquiry after the bombing. A local official initially suggested that the blast could have been due to remnants of dynamite from a mine or a pre-planted bomb, though later confirmed to be an AQAP suicide attack. A local newspaper reported that the remains of an unidentified man believed to be the perpetrator were found at the site. The Yemeni government announced on 18 March that they had detained 12 Islamists as part of groups which may have information on the actual perpetrator of the bombing.
The South Korean government called an emergency meeting in the aftermath of the attack. South Korean foreign minister Yu Myung-hwan sent condolences to the victims of the attack and called for a thorough investigation into it during a phone call with Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Qurbi. The Ministry announced that it would issue a travel advisory across all of Yemen after the attack, urging its citizens to leave.

## Sanaa attack

On 18 March, a suicide bomber attacked a three-vehicle South Korean convoy heading to the International Airport in Sanaa. The convoy was composed of a team sent by the South Korean government to investigate the bombing, which included two foreign ministry officials and representatives of the national police and intelligence service, as well as relatives of the killed tourists. The bomber, a 20-year-old student according to his identity card recover at the scene, was waiting by the gates of the al-Dailami Air Base, which shares a runway with the airport. When the convoy arrived at the road to the airport, at 8:40 a.m. AST the bomber walked into the road between two of the vehicles and blew himself up. However, the bomber detonated his explosive belt seconds after the convoy had passed resulting in zero harm against the passengers, although the front window of one of the vehicles was shattered.

### Aftermath

On 26 March, Yemeni authorities arrested six of the 12 suspects in the Shibam bombing, claiming that they were AQAP members who were involved in the Sanaa attack on the South Korean convoy as well as 10 other plots to attack foreign tourists and oil facilities. The government stated that the other six suspects were still being hunted, with photos of them being publicized on television and newspapers and bounties being announced for them.

## Responsibility

AQAP claimed responsibility for the Shibam bombing through an internet message on 26 March. The group stated that they had targeted South Koreans due to their country's support for the war on terror. It also called the attack revenge for the killing of Hamza al-Quaiti, the leader of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Soldier's Brigade of Yemen, in August 2008. The group later claimed responsibility for the Sanaa bombing in April, claiming that the attack was meant to highlight the Yemeni government's inability to protect South Koreans.