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2008 Wadi Dawan ambush

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2008 Wadi Dawan ambush
Part of the al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen
Wadi Dawan
LocationWadi Dawan, Hadhramaut Governorate, Yemen
Date18 January 2008 (2008-01-18)
c. 12:15 p.m. AST (UTC+03:00)
TargetBelgian tourist convoy
Attack type
Mass shooting, ambush
WeaponAutomatic rifles
Deaths4
Injured4
Perpetrators Al-Qaeda in Yemen
  • Jund al-Yemen Brigades

On 18 January 2008, a convoy of Belgian tourists was ambushed while travelling through the Wadi Dawan in Hadhramaut Governorate, Yemen. The convoy was attacked by four gunmen waiting in a pickup truck, killing two tourists and two Yemeni drivers, along with injuring four others. The attack was claimed by the Jund al-Yemen Brigades, an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQY).

Background

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AQY had previously targeted foreign tourists in 2007 when a car bomber drove into a Spanish convoy in Marib. AQY had written a message in their e-magazine a week prior to the attack vowing to free their jailed members and exact revenge for the killing of their militants.[1] Two days prior to the attack, Yemeni authorities had been receiving emails and telephone messages threatening imminent attacks unless jailed AQY members were released.[2]

Attack

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The attack targeted a four-vehicle convoy of 15 Belgian tourists and Yemeni drivers heading to the city of Shibam, a popular tourist destination in Yemen.[3][1] The Wadi Dawan is a common route taken by tourists to reach Shibam.[4] The four militants were waiting in a Toyota pickup truck parked by the side of a speed bump along a rural road the Wadi Dawan near the city of al-Hajarayn.[3] The truck's hood was put up to give the impression that it was broken down.[5] At around 12:15 p.m. AST (UTC+3), coinciding with the time of Friday prayers, the masked militants opened fire on the convoy as it slowed down by the speed bump.[6][5] According to a witnesses account, the militants fired at the three front jeeps, while the fourth one wasn't hit as it was farther back taking photographs.[7][8] After initial bursts of automatic fire, the gunmen then approached the vehicles and fired into them.[7] The attackers then reportedly fled the site in a vehicle after hiding behind trees.[9]

Victims

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The attackers killed two Belgian women, identified as 65-year-old Claudine Van Caillie and 54-year-old Katrine Glorie, and their Yemeni driver Ahmed al-Amiri.[2][3] Another Yemeni national believed to be a tour guide was reported later reported to be dead.[7][1] Four other tourists were injured, among them 65-year-old Patrick Coucke, who was seriously wounded after being shot in the stomach.[4][2]

Twelve of the tourists returned to Belgium on 19 January, while Coucke was transferred to Sanaa amid arrangements for his repatriation in coordination with the Belgian government.[10]

Responsibility

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A man claiming to be AQY's information officer claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call with weekly newspaper al-Wasat on 23 January.[11][12] The caller claimed that the attack was a response to the "inhuman treatment" of al-Qaeda members in Political Security Organization prisons.[13][14] The Yemeni government said the caller was a “well known fraud”, questioning his affiliation with AQY.[11] AQY's official information officer Sayf Muhammad later issued a statement denying that the interview with al-Wasat was legitimate or that the caller had a relationship with the group.[12]

Later in February, a previously unknown group called the Jund al-Yemen Brigades announced its presence in an internet statement which claimed several previous AQY attacks, including the Wadi Dawan attack.[12][15][16] According to Gregory D. Johnson of CTC Westpoint, AQY's e-magazine neglecting to deny the statement of Jund al-Yemen Brigades in it's second March issue insinuate that the groups are "either united under al-Wuhayshi's (the leader of AQY) leadership or at least working in concert."[12] The Yemeni government implicated several militants responsible for other Jund al-Yemen attacks with involvement in the Wadi Dawan attack.[17]

Investigation

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Security personnel set up roadblocks around the area of the attack while helicopters were sent out to locate the perpetrators.[10] The Yemeni government announced a 15 million riyal reward for information leading to the capture of the four gunmen involved in the attack.[18] On 20 January, two Yemeni soldiers died and five were injured in a traffic accident while they were carrying out a manhunt against the wanted militants.[19] The Belgian government confirmed on 21 January that 8 to 10 people were arrested in connection with the attack.[20][21] On 24 January, Yemeni authorities announced that they had arrested the four militants who took part in the attack and seized their pickup truck.[5]

On 13 July 2009, 16 militants from the Jund al-Yemen Brigades were convicted for participating in several attacks for the group, including the Wadi Dawan attack.[22] Of the group, which comprised 11 Yemenis, four Syrians and a Saudi, six were sentenced to death while the other 10 were given prison sentences from ranging from eight to 15 years.[17] A court of appeal later sentenced four of the militants to death and gave 12 of them jail sentences between eight and 12 years.[23]

Aftermath

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Reactions

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Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Qurbi “renewed Yemen’s commitment in cooperation with the international community to combat terrorism that threatens security and stability in the world,” in a phone call with Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht according to the state-sponsored Saba News Agency.[10]

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt denounced the attacks as "dramatic and unacceptable" in a statement, issuing condolences to the victims and urging the Yemeni government to track down the perpetrators.[24] De Gucht said that the tourists should have known the risks involved in travelling to Yemen. He also stated that "we have no indication that al-Qaeda or any other extremist group was involved,” adding that the area also had “tribal problems."[2] The European Union issued a statement condemning the attack while acknowledging that it was second time in six months that European tourists were killed in Yemen.[25]

Impact

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The Wadi Dawan attack, in conjunction with the Marib bombing in 2007, lead to a significant negative effect on the tourist sector in Yemen.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Gunmen Kill Two Belgian Tourists and 2 Yemenis". Arab News. 2008-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-01.
  2. ^ a b c d "Belgian tourists shot dead in Yemen". Al Jazeera. 2008-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-01.
  3. ^ a b c Worth, Robert F. (2008-01-19). "Belgian Tourists Killed in Yemen Ambush". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2024-12-15. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  4. ^ a b "Gunmen kill two tourists in Yemen". NBC News. 2008-01-18. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  5. ^ a b c Al-Khawlani, Adel (2008-01-24). "Police arrest suspects involved in tourists' assassination". Yemen Times. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  6. ^ "Two Belgian tourists and Yemeni dirver die in gun attack". Kuwait News Agency. 2008-01-18. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  7. ^ a b c "Belgians killed in Yemen attack". BBC News. 2008-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  8. ^ "Belgian tourists home after Yemen attack". Emirates 24/7. 2008-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  9. ^ "مقتل بلجيكيتين ويمنيين في هجوم على سياح بحضرموت" [Two Belgians and two Yemenis killed in attack on tourists in Hadramaut]. Al Jazeera (in Arabic). 2008-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-02. [The attackers managed to escape in a car after hiding behind trees.]
  10. ^ a b c "Belgian Tourists Return Home From Yemen Ordeal". Arab News. 2008-01-20. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  11. ^ a b Johnsen, Gregory D. (2008-02-08). "Attacks on Oil Industry Are First Priority for al-Qaeda in Yemen". The Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  12. ^ a b c d Johnsen, Gregory D. (2010-01-03). "Al-Qa'ida in Yemen's 2008 Campaign". Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  13. ^ "Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for murder". Hindustan Times. 2008-01-24. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  14. ^ "Al-Thawry [Archives:2008/1124/Press Review]". Yemen Times. 2008-01-28. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  15. ^ "Al Qaeda eist moord Belgische toeristen op" [Al Qaeda claims responsibility for the murder of Belgian tourists]. VRT News (in Dutch). 2008-02-26. Archived from the original on 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2025-01-02. [In a press release on the internet, the "Jund Al-Yemen Brigades" stated that they carried out the attack on 18 January 2008 in which two Belgian female tourists and two Yemenis were killed.]
  16. ^ Mounassar, Hammoud (2008-09-17). "US embassy in Yemen hit by car bombing, rocket fire". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2025-01-02. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  17. ^ a b Black, Ian (2009-07-13). "Yemen sentences six to death as al-Qaida members". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  18. ^ Arrabyee, Nasser (2008-01-21). "Yemen offers bounty for tip-off on tourist attack". Gulf News. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  19. ^ "Al-Qaeda and an unknown Islamic group claim responsibility for Sayoun suicide bombing" (PDF). Yemen Times. 2008-07-28. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-01-02. Two days after the Daw'an attack, two soldiers were killed and five other injured in a traffic accident, according to official sources, while they were carrying out a campaign to capture the tourists' attackers.
  20. ^ "Arrestation des auteurs présumés" [Arrest of the alleged perpetrators]. La Libre Belgique (in French). 2025-01-02. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  21. ^ "اعتقالات واتهام للقاعدة بمهاجمة السياح البلجيكيين في اليمن" [Arrests and Al-Qaeda accused of attacking Belgian tourists in Yemen]. Al Jazeera (in Arabic). 2008-01-20. Retrieved 2025-01-02. [Yemeni security forces arrested at least ten suspects and closed all roads and outlets leading to Hadhramaut Governorate in the east of the country, following an attack by gunmen on a tourist group that left four dead: two Belgian tourists and two Yemenis, one of whom was a driver and the other a translator and tour guide.]
  22. ^ "Yemenis sentenced to death for spate of attacks". Al Arabiya English. 2009-07-13. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  23. ^ Arrabyee, Nasser (2018-09-15). "Four terrorists sentenced to death in Yemen". Gulf News. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  24. ^ ""Aanval is dramatisch en onaanvaardbaar"" ["Attack is dramatic and unacceptable"]. VRT News (in Dutch). 2008-01-18. Archived from the original on 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2025-01-02. [Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (Open VLD) reacted with dismay to the news of the attack on the Belgians. The fact that two Belgians were killed and one Belgian was seriously injured is "dramatic and unacceptable", the prime minister said in a statement. He called on the Yemeni authorities to track down the murderers and to ensure justice was done. He also stressed that we must not let up our efforts in the fight against terror at any time.]
  25. ^ "EU urges Yemen to track down tourist killers". Dawn. 2008-01-20. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  26. ^ Lyon, Alistair (2008-02-25). "Yemen's tourist sector hit by al Qaeda attacks". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
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