Second blast within a week, Americans evacuated from embassy

A bomb exploded early on Thursday outside the offices of a Canadian oil firm in Hadda Street, in the Yemeni capital Sana'a.   The blast caused minor damage to the wall of the building of the largest oil company operating in Yemen, Canadian Nexen Petroleum. It caused no causalities according to eyewitnesses. 

A police officer at the scene said that the improvised device was tossed into the corner of a cinema adjacent to the company's building. He said a second bomb was found by the door of a nearby restaurant and defused.   The incident comes just days after another attack, attributed to al-Qaeda, on a residential complex housing western workers in Sana'a last Sunday. This prompted the US Embassy in Sana'a to release a statement on Tuesday that non-essential staff will be evacuated from Sana'a immediately.  

"Following the attack on the US Embassy on March 18 and the April 6 attack on the Hadda residential compound in Sana'a, the Department of State has ordered the departure of non-emergency embassy staff and family members from Yemen," said a statement issued by the embassy and sent to media. 

"Embassy employees are not authorized to travel outside of Sana'a and have been advised to avoid hotels, restaurants, and tourist areas and to strictly limit their exposure in public places until further notice," the statement reads.  The embassy statement also urged Americans in the country to "exercise caution and take prudent security measures, including maintaining a high level of vigilance, avoiding crowds and demonstrations, keeping a low profile, varying times and routes for all travel."  Last Sunday April 6, unknown men believed to be al-Qaeda affiliates fired three mortar rounds at a residential compound also on Hadda Street in Sana'a.

Seven people believed to be connected with the foreign complex attack were arrested, reported Saba news agency.
 
On March 18, mortars allegedly fired by al-Qaeda narrowly missed the US Embassy in Sana'a, killing a soldier and injuring about 20 girls at a neighboring school. 

After these two attacks, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller visited Yemen on Wednesday April 9 and met with officials including President Ali Abdullah Saleh with whom he discussed "Yemen's efforts to combat terrorism."

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