Yemen Cityscape over Sanaa.jpg

North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The British, who had set up a protectorate area around the southern port of Aden in the 19th century, withdrew in 1967 from what became South Yemen. Three years later, the southern government adopted a Marxist orientation. The massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis from the south to the north contributed to two decades of hostility between the states. The two countries were formally unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990. A southern secessionist movement in 1994 was quickly subdued. In 2000, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to a delimitation of their border.

Militants disguised as soldiers detonated two car bombs outside the United States Embassy compound in Sana, Yemen, on September 18th, killing 16 people, including 6 of the attackers, Yemeni officials said.

Skip to next paragraphNo American officials or embassy employees were killed or wounded, embassy officials said. Six of the dead were Yemeni guards at the compound entrance, and the other four killed were civilians waiting to be allowed in.

After the attack on Wednesday, a little-known Yemeni group that calls itself Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. Yemeni officials seemed skeptical, however, saying they suspected Al Qaeda's Yemeni branch, which has become more active over the past year.

After the raid last month, the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda released a statement on the Internet promising to carry out attacks in retaliation. The proof, the statement said, using a common Islamist phrase, "will be in what you see and not in what you hear."