2009 Yemeni tourist attacks
Two suicide bombings took place in March 2009, targeting South Korea nationals in Yemen. The first, which occurred on 15 March, targeted a group of South Korean tourists visiting the city of Shibam in Hadhramaut Governorate. The bomber detonated an explosive belt while posing for a picture with the tourists, killing four of them along with their Yemeni tour guide and injuring three others. On 18 March, another suicide bomber attempted to attack a convoy of South Korean investigators and relatives of the victims in Sanaa. However, the bombing failed and resulted in no casualties other than the perpetrator. Both attacks were claimed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Background
AQAP was formed two months prior to the attack in a merger of al-Qaeda's branches in Yemen and in Saudi Arabia. Leaders of al-Qaeda in Yemen had frequently called upon attacks against non-Muslim foreigners within the Arabian Peninsula. The group had previously launched a suicide bombing killing Spanish tourists in Marib in July 2007 and an attack on a convoy of Belgian tourists travelling through Wadi Dawan in January 2008, the latter being approximately 2.5 miles from Shibam.Shibam, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Yemen for its tall mud-brick buildings built in the 16th century.
Shibam attack
Bombing
The attack targeted a group of 16 South Korean tourists as well as two travel agency staff travelling through Shibam a via a convoy of jeeps. It occurred as the convoy had reached the Khazzan hill which overlooks the city. While viewing the sunset from the hill, a teenager and a man in his early forties claiming to be his father approached the tourists and began a conversation with them. The teenager asked to be photographed with the tourists, to which they obliged. At around 5:50 p.m. AST, the teenager detonated an explosive belt while posing with the tourists in front of the city's buildings. The blast was strong enough to be heard more than 2 miles away in the al-Qubah district of Shibam. The remaining tourists were transferred to a nearby hospital immediately after the attack.Casualties
The blast killed four tourists, two men and two women, and injured an additional four South Koreans. The killed tourists were identified as 70-year-old Park Bong-gan, 64-year-old Kim In-hye, 59-year-old Joo Yong-cheol and 55-year-old Shin Hye-yoon. The latter two were reportedly a married couple.A Yemeni tour guide wounded in the attack later died of his injuries in hospital, raising the death toll to five. The number of injuries was later revised to three tourists.
Perpetrator
An initial report on the attack from the state-sponsored Saba News Agency suggested that the bomber was "tricked into wearing an explosives vest." However, in their claim of responsibility, AQAP stated that the perpetrator "carried out a martyrdom-seeking operation" and referred to him as "Abu Obeida al-Jarrah."Conflicting reports emerged of the bomber's identity, one report identifying him as Ali Muhsin al-Ahmad, a 19-year-old Yemeni from Taiz who travelled to Somalia in January to train for the attack. Before the attack, the bomber allegedly wrote a letter to his mother stating that his family would never see him again and that he was on the "true path."
Aftermath
The Yemeni government immediately launched an inquiry after the bombing. A local official initially suggested that the blast could have been due to remnants of dynamite from a mine or a pre-planted bomb, though later confirmed to be an AQAP suicide attack. A local newspaper reported that the remains of an unidentified man believed to be the perpetrator were found at the site. The Yemeni government announced on 18 March that they had detained 12 Islamists as part of groups which may have information on the actual perpetrator of the bombing.The South Korean government called an emergency meeting in the aftermath of the attack. South Korean foreign minister Yu Myung-hwan sent condolences to the victims of the attack and called for a thorough investigation into it during a phone call with Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Qurbi. The Ministry announced that it would issue a travel advisory across all of Yemen after the attack, urging its citizens to leave.