# September 2006 Yemen attacks

On 15 September 2006, four militants attempted suicide attacks on two different oil facilities in Yemen. Two militants each driving car bombs attempted to target an oil storage facility at the Canadian-Yemeni Dhabba Oil Terminal in Hadhramaut governorate, but their vehicles exploded prematurely after security opened fire on them, killing a guard. Another two militants tried car bombing the Safer oil refinery in Marib governorate shortly after, though they too were killed before their vehicles could reach the target. The attacks were claimed by al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQY).

## Background

On 3 February 2006, 23 members of al-Qaeda escaped from a prison in Sanaa. From there, AQY would silently rebuild its networks throughout the rest of the year under the leadership of escapees Nasir al-Wuhayshi and Qasim al-Raymi. Numerous individuals from the prison escape would take part in planning, recruiting and training for the attacks, including Wuhayshi, Raymi, Fawaz al-Rubaiee, Hamza al-Quaiti and Muhammad al-Umda. Rubaiee had helped partially fund the bombings with four million Saudi riyals given to him by Bandar al-Awka, a fellow militant in Yemen.
Days prior to the bombings, al-Qaeda released a video message coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in which deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri declared the Arab states of the Persian Gulf as well as Israel to be the groups next targets, blaming oil facilities within the countries for stealing Muslim wealth. At the time of the bombings, the Dhabba Oil Terminal and Safer oil refinery were operated by the Canadian oil firm Nexen and the American Hunt Oil Company respectively. AQY had previously carried out a bombing against French oil tanker MV Limburg while it was nearing the Dhabba port in 2002.

## Attacks

At 5:15 a.m. AST (UTC+3), two pickup trucks loaded with explosives drove at high speeds towards the oil storage tanks at the Dhabba Oil Terminal. The attack was reportedly timed to coincide with morning shift changes at the installation. One of the drivers was wearing a uniform similar to that of the workers at the facility while the other driver was wearing a military uniform. One vehicle drove through the main gate and opened fire on the security guards at the terminal, killing one, while the second vehicle attempted to advance behind it. The guards returned fire at the militants, exploding their vehicles before they could reach their targets. Shrapnel from the explosions caused a small fire in one of the storage tanks but it was quickly put out. No significant damage to the facility was reported.
At 5:50 a.m. AST, two white cars loaded with explosives and hand grenades, which were reportedly similar to those driven by staff at the facility, drove towards the Safer oil refinery in Marib city. The militants attempted to break into the facility; one vehicle drove through the main fence about 200 meters from the installation’s main plant while the other vehicle breached the inner fence about 20 meters from the plant. Security guards confronted the militants, one of whom was firing at them, and blew up the cars before they reached the main facility. No injuries or significant damage to the facility was reported, but debris from the blast was strewn around the site. Explosives experts later investigated the scene to scan for unexploded devices.

## Responsibility

On 7 November, AQY claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement posted on an Islamist website. Dated to the 20 of Ramadan in the Islamic calendar, which corresponds to 13 October, the statement vowed more attacks against "the Americans and their allies among the worshippers of the cross and their apostate aides." The group said that the attacks were done on the orders of Osama bin Laden to "hit the Western economy and stop the robbing of Muslims' wealth" and were successful despite the media reporting the opposite. It urged Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to "repent, return to his faith, apply Islamic law, renounce democracy, the religion of America, and abandon (his) alliance with the infidels", adding that the attacks acted as revenge for the deaths of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Abu Ali al-Harithi.

## Investigation

On 16 September, Prime Minister Abdul Qadir Bajamal said on the state-ran Saba News Agency that ''investigators have uncovered all the details related to the two operations and the identity of the perpetrators.'' He also stated that the facilities were still functioning. Interior Minister Rashad al-Alimi stated that security forces in Sanaa had arrested a group of four militants with links to AQY and the perpetrators of the attacks. The militants were arrested that morning after security forces surrounded them in a house the night before. Security forces confiscated 12 bags each containing 88 to 110 pounds of explosives as well as masks and women’s clothing from them.
On 19 September, President Ali Abdullah Saleh held a press conference at the Presidential Palace in which he said that Hussein al-Jirdani, a bodyguard of the main opposition's presidential candidate Faisal bin Shamlan, was arrested for being a member of al-Qaeda. Jirdani reportedly owned the house which the four-man cell in Sanaa was arrested in. Saleh accused Jirdani of planning attacks against US interests in Sanaa, including at the local Mövenpick Hotel, and linked him to the cell arrested in Sanaa and the Dhabba and Safer attacks. The Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) coalition, which Bin Shamlan was running with, stated that Jirdani had volunteered to be Bin Shamlan's bodyguard, but after they "received information from his neighbours that he is working with the security agencies" he was dismissed eight days later. The announcement, which occurred only a day before the 2006 presidential election, was seen by the JMP an attempt to attract votes, while Bin Shamlan’s campaign manager called the allegations “a government scare tactic.”
On 20 September, the Ministry of Interior reported that the suspects from the Sanaa cell confessed the identities of the suicide bombers in the attacks. The bombers in the Dhabba attack were Shafiq Ahmed Omar Zaid and Hashim Khalid al-Eraqi, while the bombers in the Safer attack were Omar Saeed Hassan Jarallah and Ahmed Mohammed al-Abyadh. Zaid and Jarallah were both among the 23 fugitives who escaped from prison in February.
On 1 October 2006, Yemeni security forces killed Fawaz al-Rubaiee alongside fellow al-Qaeda member and prison escapee Muhammad al-Daylami during a pre-dawn raid in Sanaa. Based on a tip to Yemeni authorities, a house in a Sanaa suburb that Rabeiee was hiding in was raided, leading to a shootout which killed him and Daylami.

## Trial

On 4 March 2007, a Yemeni court charged 36 suspected al-Qaeda members, including six in absentia, with planning several terrorist attacks. The group was accused of providing logistical support to the double-suicide bombing, housing 10 of the 23 fugitive al-Qaeda members, and plotting several bombings in mid-2006 against a hotel in Sanaa frequented by foreigners, a compound housing American diplomats and the Yemeni Chamber of Commerce building. All of the present suspects pleaded not guilty with six of them, including lead suspect Abu Bakr al-Rubaiee, the brother of Fawaz al-Rubaiee, claiming that they had been tortured into giving forced confessions.
During a court session on 5 April, lead prosecutor Khalid al-Mawri accused the 36 suspects of being trained in the Marib desert by AQY leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi and pledging to do jihad and support Osama bin Laden. They additionally received training from Fawaz al-Rubaiee and Qasim al-Raymi on how to fire Kalashnikov rifles, use hand grenades and distribute films and handouts of religious sheikhs urging people to embark upon jihad. At a hearing on 15 April, Abu Bakr al-Rubaiee renounced his confession during an interrogation that he alongside others had been planning attacks on US interests and diplomat residences in Yemen. He claimed that the admission was extracted through torture, and that he was approached by jihadist groups to participate in attacks in Yemen and Iraq but refused to do so.
On 6 August, the court announced that the verdict for the trial would be issued on 7 November. By this time, the amount of individuals being charged had dropped to 33, as three of the six suspects tried in absentia had either been killed or captured. On 6 November, pro al-Qaeda websites displayed a video message of one of the suicide bombers in the attack, Shafiq Ahmad Omar Zaid. He said that "We are God's bombs at your disposal," while addressing Osama bin Laden, urging viewers to "Kill the infidels and do not be intimidated by their numbers or equipment."
On 7 November, the court convicted 32 of the suspects and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from two to 15 years. Six fugitives, including Wuhayshi, Raymi and Ibrahim al-Huwaydi, received the highest punishment for masterminding the bombings, while the court issued a 12-year and 10-year sentences for Hamza al-Quaiti, Jaber Elbanah and Muhammed al-Umda respectively. The rest of the suspects received sentences ranging from two to eight years in prison for smaller roles in the plots. Of the 36 original suspects, four were acquitted based off lack of evidence, including Hussein al-Jirdani. The prosecution was not satisfied with the sentences given, and were seeking to appeal the case.
The appeal case began on 23 February 2008. During the first hearing, Elbanah arrived in court midway through and proclaimed his innocence before leaving. Elbaneh surrendered to authorities in May 2007 in an agreement which allowed him to remain out of prison as long as he attended his trial. He was reportedly under loose house arrest after being sentenced in November 2007, but a judge later ordered his imprisonment on 18 May 2008. The appeal reached its conclusion on 8 November, with Elbanah's sentence being reduced from 10 years to five because he surrendered to authorities in December 2007. Updated sentences for the others in the group ranged between three years and 15, while the sentences of Wuhayshi, Raymi and Huwaydi were upheld.

## Reactions

A statement from the Yemeni Interior Ministry said that attacks will not stop the nation from "continuing its persistent efforts to fight terrorism and the terrorist elements of darkness that are trying to undermine the security and stability of the country and its interests."