# 2008 attack on the United States embassy in Yemen

On 17 September 2008, a group of seven heavily armed militants launched a coordinated attack on the United States embassy in Sanaa, Yemen. Dressed in army uniforms, the attackers planned to infiltrate the compound through the main gate in two vehicles before bombing the embassy wall and raiding it. After being denied entrance, the militants opened fire on the guards at the front entrance and launched a suicide car bomb attack on the guard post near the gate. While the militants were engaged with responding Yemeni security forces, a second car driven by a suicide bomber managed to get past the outer security checkpoint and detonated near a civilian entrance to the embassy after hitting an inner ring of concrete blocks. Yemeni forces continued to clash with the militants for 10 to 15 minutes until all of them were killed.
19 people were killed in the attack, including the seven militants who conducted it, six Yemeni security personnel and six civilians. Three Yemeni police officers and 13 civilians were also wounded. No American embassy employees or diplomats were harmed, though a security guard employed by the embassy was killed at the front entrance. The only American citizen killed in the attack was Susan Elbaneh, an 18-year-old Yemeni-American woman who was waiting outside the embassy with her husband.
A previously unknown group called Islamic Jihad in Yemen claimed responsibility for conducting the attack shortly after it. The group claimed it was connected to al-Qaeda and would launch further attacks on foreign embassies in Sanaa if the Yemeni government did not free imprisoned militants. A US Department of State spokesman claimed the attacks bore "all the hallmarks" of al-Qaeda, with analysts suggesting that the group may have had Islamic Jihad claim the attack on its behalf. Al-Qaeda in the South of the Arabian Peninsula (AQSAP), the group's official branch in Yemen, later claimed responsibility for the attack on 14 November and vowed further attacks on Western targets. After the attack, Yemeni investigators apprehended six suspects affiliated with Islamic JIhad, including its purported leader. Three of them were tried for being connected to the Israeli government, one receiving the death penalty while the other two were imprisoned. The attack was condemned by the Yemen and the US, along with the United Nations and several other countries.

## Background

The embassy was previously targeted in a mortar attack on 18 March, though the shells fired at the embassy missed it and instead hit a nearby girls school, injuring 13 children. The attack, as well as another targeting a residential compound housing Americans workers in April were attributed to the Jund al-Yemen Brigades, an offshoot of AQSAP. On 11 August, five militants including group leader Hamza al-Quaiti was killed in a raid by Yemeni security forces in Tareem, Hadhramaut. The same day, the US embassy rescinded an order forcing all nonessential personnel to leave the country "because the security situation appeared to have improved" from when it was issued in April, according to an embassy spokesperson. The Jund al-Yemen Brigades issued a statement on 23 August pledging to continue its attacks and vowing revenge for the killing of Quaiti.

## Attack

At 09:15 AST (UTC+3), militants dressed in military uniforms and armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles pulled up to the main gate of the compound in a vehicle made to look like one used by Yemeni security forces. The group's plan was enter the compound during a morning shift change, and then "to breach the wall ... and then have the attackers go on foot through this breach in the wall," according to the US State Department. The main embassy building was about 250 metres away from the entrance.
The gunmen opened fire on the embassy security from the street after they refused to grant them entry, killing one guard through the reinforced glass of the guard booth as he barred the vehicle from entering through the gate. After one militant lifted a drop bar in the way, the vehicle, which was also a SVBIED, drove into and exploded at a guard post near the gate. The blast was described as a "fireball" by a witness, with plumes of fire and smoke being seen rising from the embassy. Minutes later, militants in army uniforms took up positions on foot near the blast site. First responders and security personnel arriving at the scene came under sniper fire from across the street.
Amid the gun battle, a second SVBIED drove into the parking lot of a pedestrian entrance to the embassy. It exploded near the sidewalk to the entrance after hitting a ring of protective concrete blocks surrounding it, killing multiple civilians waiting in line outside the entrance. The car bomb failed to breach the outer wall of the embassy, which was its intended target. The gun battle between the four militants, one of whom was wearing an explosive belt, and security forces lasted between 10 to 15 minutes. Up to five explosions were heard during the attack; one militant reportedly blew himself up at a checkpoint near the gate. The militants failed to gain entry into the compound before they were all killed. A half-hour after the initial bombing, Yemeni soldiers cleared traffic around the area in order for military ambulances to transport injured personnel to a local military hospital.

## Casualties

Apart from the six attackers, six members of the Yemeni security forces were killed, including embassy guard Mokhtar Ahmed Al-Faqeh. Four civilians were killed in the attack, including 26-year-old Indian national Rani Krishnan Nair, a nurse at a private hospital in the city who was killed in the crossfire. Three police officers and 13 civilians were injured, among them including women and children from houses across the street from the embassy. The civilians were taken to the Republican Hospital in Sanaa.
No American diplomats or embassy employees were killed or wounded in the attack. A fifth civilian later succumbed to their injuries on 18 September, raising the death toll to 17. Another person wounded in the attack was pronounced dead by 22 September. Later evaluations determined that there were seven militants involved in the attack, placing the death toll at 19 people.
Among the civilians killed included US citizen Susan Elbaneh along with her husband. Elbanah, an 18-year-old Yemeni-American high school senior and native of Lackawanna, New York, had gone to the embassy in Yemen in order to help her husband, whom she had wed less than a month prior in an arranged marriage, sign paperwork to obtain approval for moving to the US. The two were reportedly waiting in line outside the embassy when they were killed. Elbanah was a distant relative of Lackawanna Six al-Qaeda supporter Jaber Elbaneh who was incarcerated in Yemen at the time, though her family stated that she had no relationship with him and was a "victim of terrorism."

## Responsibility

Immediately after the attack, a little-known group called Islamic Jihad in Yemen claimed responsibility for conducting it in a statement posted online. The group's leader, Abu al-Ghaith al-Yamani, stated that it was "belonging to the al-Qaeda organisation" and threatened to conduct further attacks on the British, Saudi and Emirati embassies in Sanaa among others if their jailed members were not released within two days.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack official said that the attack bore “all the hallmarks” of al-Qaeda, citing "multiple vehicle-borne devices, along with personnel on foot." Intelligence consulting firm Stratfor referred to the attack as "complex" and attributed it to "jihadists affiliated with the Yemeni node of al-Qaeda." Analysts suggested that al-Qaeda may have claimed the attack under the name of Islamic Jihad in order to exaggerate its own size or the number of armed groups fighting against the government. Analyst Gregory D. Johnsen expressed doubt that Islamic Jihad was behind the attack, claiming that "some individual such as Abu Ghayth al-Yamani hears the news and dashes off a fax, and then a day or two later the group responsible posts an official statement claiming responsibility."
On 14 November, SITE Intelligence Group reported that AQSAP had taken responsibility for the attack in an internet post. The post provided a detailed description of the seven militants, led by scholar and fighter Lutf Muhammad Abu Abdul-Rahman, breached the security of the embassy, and vowed more attacks against "all dens of the Crusaders". The post also claimed that administrative officer Jeffrey Patneau was killed in the attacks, though the US embassy posted a message stating that he had died in an unrelated traffic collision later in the month.

## Investigation

A Yemeni security official said that a team of FBI investigators had been dispatched to examine evidence from the attack and to interrogate suspects. The embassy was temporarily closed until 20 September in order to help investigators. American investigators were seen probing the area around the embassy the next day. Cooperation between Yemeni and American investigators had waned by the end of the year.
By 18 September, Yemeni authorities had arrested 30 people in connection to the attack. Diplomatic commentators claimed it was a routine reaction by the Yemeni government after a terrorist attack, cautioning that security forces arrest "the usual suspects, and then nothing comes out of it." Yemeni security forces blocked traffic around the embassy and were stopping and searching people travelling in the neighbourhood.
On 22 September, the Yemeni Interior Ministry stated that they were holding six key suspects in the attack, one of whom was militant Abu Ghaith al-Yamani, who signed the statement for Islamic Jihad claiming the attack. According to the ministry, a total of 50 people were arrested in connection to the attack. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh referred to the six as an Israeli intelligence-linked terrorist cell during a speech on 7 October, to which Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor responded by calling the accusations "far-fetched."
On 26 September, a security official stated that investigators were viewing CCTV footage from the embassy during the time of the attack. DNA tests were also being ran on the remains of the attackers and compared to individuals who have criminal records, were previously or currently detained, or are wanted in other terrorism cases. He also stated that investigators found that the license plates on the two car bombs in the attack were both fake.
On 1 November, a Yemeni security official stated that authorities had identified the six militants who perpetrated the attack. He stated that the attackers were trained at al-Qaeda camps in Hadhramaut and Marib Governorates, and that three of the militants had recently returned from fighting alongside al-Qaeda in Iraq.
On 10 January 2009, the trial for three of the six suspects had begun, with the Yemeni government holding them responsible for collaborating with Israeli intelligence in "spreading false news of attacks on government buildings, embassies and foreign interests in Yemen between May and September 2008" and claiming the attack on the US embassy on behalf of Islamic Jihad. Yamani, the main defendant whos real name was Bassam al-Haidari, was accused of sending an email to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert which wrote “We are the Organisation of Islamic Jihad and you are Jews, but you are honest, and we are ready to do anything,” to which Olmert responded in support. On 23 March, the court sentenced Haidari to death, while giving out a five year and three year prison sentence for Ali al-Mahfal and Ammar al-Raimi respectively. Haidari's death sentence was upheld by a court decision on 2 April 2010.

### Al Jazeera investigation

As a part of an investigative series released by Al Jazeera on 4 June 2015, Hani Muhammad Mujahid, a former AQSAP informant for the Yemeni government, provided his account for the attack. Mujahid said that he had notified his government handlers of the attack on three different occasions; three months, one week and three days before it took place, but all were ignored. He had also given the government details regarding the operation, including the house in which the explosives were being prepared, the fact that they would use two vehicles, and where they would come from. Mujahid claimed that AQSAP was "running low on weaponry, particularly in the lead-up to the embassy attack", but that Ammar Mohammed Saleh, the nephew of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and then deputy of the National Security Bureau, knowingly aided the group. He claims that he was given money by Saleh which was to be distributed to AQSAP senior leader Qasim al-Raymi in order to fund the attack.
The same day that the investigation was released, President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi issued a decree dismissing Saleh from his role as a military attaché in Ethiopia.

## Aftermath
### Reactions

President Saleh vowed to track down the perpetrators of the attack and stated that "attacks against foreigners damage our nation, our national interests, and national stability," during a speech in al-Hudaydah. He also criticized protesters who chanted slogans such as "death to America" and "death to Israel" and claimed that they were "harming the security and stability of their country." Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said the attack was "a desperate operation by terrorist elements who are responding to successful government measures that have resulted in the elimination of terrorist groups." He also requested more American assistance to battle al-Qaeda, but added that the US should "focus its aid more on developing the economy and educational system to achieve long-term success." He later said that the attack did not create a negative impact on relations between Yemen and the US.
The US State Department advised American citizens to avoid unessential travel to Yemen and gave non-emergency embassy personnel authorization to leave the country. US embassies in other Gulf countries issued an advisory for Americans to “remain alert to personal security.” The US embassy issued a statement after the attack condemning it and announcing a joint investigation with Yemeni authorities to "bring the perpetrators of this heinous terrorist crime to justice."
President George W. Bush labeled the attack as "a reminder that we are at war with extremists who will murder innocent people to achieve their ideological objectives” during an appearance at the White House with Army General David H. Petraeus. He added that the US "will continue to work with the government of Yemen to increase our counterterrorism activities to prevent more attacks from taking place." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke to President Saleh through a phone call to "reinforce the importance of counterterrorism cooperation" according to the State Department. During a press conference, State Department spokesperson McCormack said that the Yemeni government could "do more" to reinforce its commitment to counterterrorism, adding that "we want to work with them to build up their capabilities at this point." Presidential candidate Barack Obama issued a statement condemning the attack and advocating for increased counterterrorism support for US allies.
Statements of condemnation were issued by the United Nations and the European Union, as well as Japan and Canada among other countries.