US embassy cable - 05SANAA906

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 000906 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/10/2015 
TAGS: PINR, PREL, PTER, YM, DOMESTIC POLITICS, COUNTER TERRORISM 
SUBJECT: GRENADE ATTACKS IN SANAA PERSIST AMID SAADA 
FIGHTING 
 
REF: A. SANAA 697 
     B. SANAA 726 
     C. IIR 6906011405 
 
Classified By: DCM Nabeel Khoury for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
 1. (SBU) Summary. Amidst reports of escalating fighting in 
Saada,  six grenade attacks against military personnel were 
reported in downtown Sanaa in the past ten days.  Accounts of 
the attacks, which are sporadic and sometimes conflicting, 
indicate that this violence is Saada related, perpetrated by 
members or supporters of al-Houthi's "Believing Youth" 
movement.  End Summary. 
 
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Incident Reports 
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2. (C) One officer and two soldiers were reportedly injured 
on the evening of April 9 in the Bab al-Yemen/Old City area 
of Sanaa when a grenade was tossed into a passing Airforce 
vehicle.  According to local journalist Hamoud Munasser, 
police forces immediately swept the area and made several 
arrests.  Speculation was rife all week that it, and previous 
attacks (ref C), are related to the renewal of bloody 
fighting between ROYG forces and al-Houthi insurgents in the 
northern Saada area. (refs A and B).  ROYG officials at first 
denied but now confirmed to senior emboffs that the attacks 
are indeed related to Saada fighting.  Yemen Times reporter, 
Mohammed al-Qadi, and UAE based Al-Bayan newspaper 
correspondent Mohammed Ghorbani, both told Poloff that only 
one person was injured in the most recent attack, and claimed 
the target of the grenade was the home, and not the vehicle, 
of a ranking Airforce officer.  On April 11, Raynews.net, the 
internet news service of the small leftest Rabita party, 
quoted a Ministry of Interior official denying that the 
officer, General Mustafa Zayed, was injured at all. 
 
3. (C) Post has been to unable confirm reports of another 
grenade attack on a ROYG military vehicle on April 10, 
rumored to have occurred in the Haddah area of Sanaa.  The 
latest confirmed incident on April 9 comes after a series of 
similar attacks beginning March 29 when a grenade was tossed 
into a passing ROYG military vehicle at the Bab al-Salam gate 
in the Bab-al Yemen/Old City area.  According to local press 
the target of this attack was an Army commander in charge of 
Procurement.  The media reported that the commander was 
injured and his deputy killed in the attack.  Oddly, OMC 
Chief met with the same commander days after the attack, who 
insisted his deputy was not only fine but in Cairo with his 
family. 
 
4. (C) Another grenade attack against the military took place 
on April 5 in front of the Ministry of Defense in Central 
Sanaa.  The attack occurred at around noon when a man dressed 
in the garb of al-Houthi's "Believing Youth" threw a grenade 
from his vehicle into a military transport truck carrying 
several soldiers.  The grenade, which was thrown back out of 
the truck, exploded on the sidewalk causing minor injuries. 
A Police car that gave chase eventually lost the suspect 
vehicle.  (Ref. C). 
 
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Believing Youth Likely Suspects 
------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Despite ROYG efforts to play down the situation in 
their public statements, press circles almost unanimously 
concur that al-Houthi followers are behind the attacks.  The 
targeting of the military in Sanaa in retribution for the 
ongoing battle between security forces and al-Houthi 
insurgents in Saada, implies the "Believing Youth" have 
adopted new terrorist-like tactics and that the conflict has 
spread beyond the area of military engagement in the north. 
A journalist close to the Embassy confided that his source 
within the al-Houthi movement in Saada called and confirmed 
that the Believing Youth were responsible for the string of 
attacks in the capital city and that they were aimed at the 
ROYG security forces and military.  The source also told the 
journalist that there are no plans to attack diplomats or 
other installations.  Senior ROYG officials on the other hand 
tell us they are now convinced these attacks are al-Houthi 
related and point out the terrorist nature of the movement 
and its aims, which they claim are virulently anti-American. 
Krajeski