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Suicide attack on Yemen mosque during Eid prayers; 29 dead

Last updated on: September 24, 2015 19:14 IST

Image: People stand outside the al-Balili mosque after two bombings at the mosque in Yemen's capital Sanaa. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a mosque run by Yemen's Houthi group in the capital Sanaa on Thursday, the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, causing many casualties, witnesses said. Photograph: Khaled Abdullah/ Reuters

At least 29 people have been killed and many others wounded in a suicide bomb attack that ripped through a Shia mosque in Yemen's capital Sanaa.

The explosion, which occurred during the prayers for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha on Thursday morning, hit the Balili mosque near a police academy in Sanaa, witnesses said.

One suicide bomber reportedly detonated explosives inside the mosque and as people fled a second bomber set off explosives at the entrance.

Some reports have put the death toll higher, and many people have been injured.

Sanaa has been hit by a series of bomb attacks, many of them claimed by the Islamic State militant group.

The attack comes two days after Yemen's President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi returned to the southern city of Aden from exile in Saudi Arabia. He had fled in March following gains by Houthi rebels, who have since been targeted by a Saudi-led coalition.

The terrorist group ISIS claimed responsibility on social media for the bombing. ISIS posted the statement on Twitter and said the bombing came as "part of a series of military operations to revenge Muslims against Houthis."

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