Three Yemeni soldiers killed in roadside bomb attack (Roundup)

Apr 16, 2008, 16:23 GMT

Sana'a, Yemen - Three soldiers were killed and four others injured Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded next to a police vehicle in the historical city of Marib, north-east of the Yemeni capital Sana'a, officials said.

The bomb was placed at a crossroad where police patrol parks daily to secure convoys of tourists touring the historical sites.

'Three soldiers were killed and four others injured,' said a local official, asking not to be named. He said initial investigation suggests that the bomb was detonated by a remote control.

Witnesses had earlier said four soldiers were killed when the bomb went off as the vehicle parked during a routine patrol mission.

They said the blast took place at around 08:30 am (0530 GMT) in the main street of the city.

'The explosion turned the car into a twisted pile of metal in the parking space,' one witness said.

He said police officers cordoned off the area and forensic experts were seen searching it.

Police officials confirmed the reported attack, but said it was premature to blame any group.

Marib, some 190 kilometres from Sana'a, is seen as one of the strongholds of al-Qaeda in Yemen.

Al-Qaeda has recently claimed responsibility for a series of attacks against foreign targets in Sana'a, including one on a high-security residential complex housing US and other Westerner citizens.

Marib was also the scene of a deadly al-Qaeda-linked attack on a Spanish tourist convoy last July, which left eight Spanish tourists dead.

In September 2006, two al-Qaeda suicide attackers blew up an explosives-laden pickup in the Safer oil refinery in the province.