American woman among dead at U.S. embassy in Yemen
Susan Elbaneh, 18, was killed with her new husband in the attack, which U.S. officials say may have been coordinated by Al Qaeda.
WASHINGTON -- A teenage American woman from upstate New York and her new husband were killed in the terrorist attack at the U.S. Embassy in Yemen yesterday, the State Department and a family member confirmed today.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed the death of Susan Elbaneh, and said the 18-year-old from Lackawanna, N.Y., was among at least 16 victims of an attack that authorities say bears the hallmarks of a coordinated Al Qaeda strike.
At a State Department briefing, McCormack provided few new details of the assault on the embassy compound, saying a team of U.S. law enforcement and security officials were on their way to Yemen to investigate the attack and gather evidence to prosecute those responsible.
Six suspected militants were killed in the attack on the embassy in the capital of Sana, at least some of them dressed in Yemeni military uniforms. Six men who were part of the Yemeni security team guarding the embassy also were killed, as were several bystanders standing outside the heavily fortified embassy.
In the attack, militants suspected of links to Al Qaeda's Yemen operation fired automatic weapons, set off grenades and a car bomb and tried to breach the embassy with a second car. They were repelled by security forces in an extended firefight.
It was believed to be the deadliest direct assault on a U.S. embassy in a decade, and the latest in a string of suspected terrorism-related incidents in Yemen. The rugged and often lawless country bordering Saudi Arabia has been a haven for Al Qaeda and related militants for many years, according to U.S. officials, who said in interviews that they believe militant anti-Western activity is increasing sharply there.
Yemen's ambassador to the United States, Abdul-Wahhab Abdullah Hajri, said his government also is concerned about the significant and possibly growing threat of Al Qaeda in his country. In recent months, he said in an interview, government security forces were able to roll up numerous Al Qaeda cells before they could launch attacks that were already in the planning or operational stages.
"On this occasion we were not able to unfold the plot, but we were able to limit the loss," Hajri said.
But the ambassador said that the attack could have been far worse if U.S-trained security forces from the Yemen Interior Ministry had not prevented the attackers from penetrating the embassy perimeter and the compound itself.
