(AFP) The United States is temporarily closing its embassy in Yemen to the public amid a spate of attacks against foreign diplomats, a top US official said Wednesday.
She said in a statement that the recent attacks “and information we have received have given us enough concern to take this precautionary step.”
The move comes after a Frenchman was killed on Monday and another was wounded when gunmen opened fire on their car in Sanaa’s diplomatic district.
Both worked for a private security firm that officials said was guarding the EU delegation in Yemen.
On Wednesday, Yemeni security forces shot dead the head of a “terror cell” behind Monday’s attack, the country’s supreme security committee said.
Foreign diplomats, mainly Europeans, have increasingly come under attack in Sanaa.
A German diplomat was wounded in the city on April 28 as he evaded an attempt by gunmen to kidnap him in the same district.
In October, a German embassy security guard was killed as he resisted a kidnapping attempt.
Two Britons and a German were kidnapped in January and February respectively.