Yemen Official Escapes Car Bomb

Yemen’s defense minister narrowly escaped a deadly car bombing on his motorcade on Tuesday. A dozen people were killed in the blast and another dozen were wounded. Maj. Gen. Muhammad Nasir Ahmad had just left the prime minister’s office in Sanaa, when his motorcade passed a booby-trapped car and the explosion occurred. Ahmad was unhurt, but seven security guards and five civilians were killed in the blast, and 12 other people were injured. It is the fourth assassination attempt against the defense minister since a new government was formed in December, and it came a day after the government announced the killing of Said al-Sheri, the deputy head of al Qaeda in Yemen.