(Reuters) - Yemen's defense minister escaped a car bomb on his motorcade on Tuesday that killed at least 12 other people, a day after the U.S.-backed government said it had dealt a crushing blow to al Qaeda by killing its regional branch's number two.
Witnesses said the blast happened as Major General Muhammad Nasir Ahmad's motorcade left the prime minister's office in Sanaa after a cabinet meeting. Interior Minister Abdul Qader Qahtan told state television that seven security guards and five civilians were killed and 12 other people were wounded.
Aides said the minister was unhurt and had told Prime Minister Mohammed Basindwa he was safe.
"A booby-trapped car waited for the motorcade of the minister near the government offices and as soon as it moved, it exploded," a security source told Reuters. "A security car was totally destroyed and all its occupants were killed, but the minister survived because his car is armored."
Officials say Tuesday's attack was the fourth assassination attempt against the defense minister since a new government was formed last December, after a power transfer deal under which long-ruling President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/11/us-yemen-attack-bomb-idUSBRE88A0HA20120911
