Unknown assailants fired shots at a U.S. Embassy vehicle at a checkpoint near the facility in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Monday night, the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday.
No injuries were reported. The shooters fired first into the air, and then turned the guns on the vehicle, which contained U.S. diplomatic personnel, the embassy said.
The shooting comes during a time of prolonged turmoil and intermittent clashes between government and opposition forces in Yemen, a U.S. ally in the battle against al Qaeda. The government faces pressure from not only the Sunni Muslim extremist group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, but also Houthis, who are Shiite Muslims who have long felt marginalized in the majority Sunni Muslim country.
Nine people were killed and 67 others injured in heavy fighting between government forces and Houthi militants in Sanaa on Monday, Yemen’s Health Ministry said, before the sides agreed to a ceasefire.
Houthis swept into the capital last year, sparking battles that left more than 300 dead in a month. In September, they signed a ceasefire deal with the government, and Houthis have since installed themselves in key positions in the government and financial institutions.
But tensions flared again last weekend as Houthis said they abducted presidential Chief of Staff Ahmed bin Mubarak in Sanaa on Saturday. Osama Sari, senior media adviser to the Houthi movement in Yemen, said Houthis detained bin Mubarak because President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi wanted to introduce a new constitution without the Houthis’ approval.
Turmoil between the two sides is worrisome to the West because a power vacuum in Yemen could benefit al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist organization based in Yemen that took credit for the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. It also tried to blow up a plane landing in Detroit in 2009.