At least 126 people reported killed in attacks claimed by Isis affiliate in Yemeni capital, which was overrun by Houthi militia in September

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Scores of people have died in three suicide bombings targeting mosques used by the Shia Houthi militia in the Yemeni capital Sana’a.

A television network owned by the Houthi rebels said 137 people were killed and 345 injured, while a medical source told Reuters that 126 had died. The attacks have been claimed by an affiliate of Islamic State.

Sana’a has been under Houthi control since it was overrun in September following fierce fighting.

One bomb exploded inside Badr mosque in the south of the city, followed by another blast at the gate as worshippers fled, witnesses said.

The third explosion targeted the Al-Hashahush mosque in northern Sana’a.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Armed men inspect the damage in Badr mosque. Photograph: Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images

A group claiming to be a Yemeni branch of Islamic State posted a statement online saying that five suicide bombers carried out what it described as a “blessed operation” against the “dens of the Shias”.

The claim could not immediately be independently confirmed and offered no proof of an Isis role. It was posted on the same website in which the Isis affiliate in Libya claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s deadly attack on a museum in Tunisia.

The Houthi militia’s television station, Al-Massira, said hospitals were urgently appealing for blood donations.

Leading Huthi cleric Al-Murtada bin Zayd al-Muhatwari, the imam of the Badr mosque, was among those killed, a medical source said.

Yemen: understanding Houthi motives is complicated but essential Read more

Yemen’s top security body blamed al-Qaida for a car bomb in January that killed 40 people and wounded dozens more at a police academy in Sana’a as recruits lined up to register. But a leader of the jihadi network denied responsibility at the time.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is regarded by the United States as the extremist network’s deadliest branch. Yemen, a front line in the US war on al-Qaida, has descended into chaos since the 2012 ousting of longtime strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been accused of backing the Houthis.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A boy receives treatment at a hospital in Sana’a after the attacks. Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPA

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi escaped Houthi house arrest in Sana’a last month and fled to the southern city of Aden, where violence has erupted in recent days.

A security official said on Friday that a top Yemeni officer linked to the Houthis had escaped an assassination bid near Aden overnight.

Four people were killed in an ambush on the Lahj-Taiz road but Gen Abdel Hafedh al-Sakkaf, the special forces chief in Aden, escaped unharmed, said the official from Lahj.

He said the attack took place in Al-Athawir as Sakkaf fled Aden in a convoy to Lahj, on its way towards militia-held Sanaa.

“He escaped the assassination bid but a bodyguard was shot dead, while three others died when their vehicle overturned,” the official said.

The attack came as forces loyal to Hadi tightened their control over Aden, where the situation was calm early on Friday. Troops loyal to Hadi and their allied Popular Committees paramilitary manned checkpoints, an AFP correspondent reported.

Hadi himself had to evacuate a presidential palace in Aden on Thursday after a fighter jet opened fire, hitting a nearby hill.

At least seven special forces fighters and four members of the Popular Committees were killed in clashes in Aden on Thursday, security sources said, and 54 were wounded on the two sides.

The violence forced the closure of the city’s airport, which Sakkaf’s forces tried to seize but were repelled by pro-Hadi troops and paramilitaries.

Following the Houthi takeover of Sana’a, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries moved their embassies to Aden and several western missions closed their doors in the capital because of security concerns.