Yemeni pro-government fighters gather outside an elderly care home where the attack took place. (Reuters photo)
Highlights
- One Indian nun among 16 dead in attack on retirement home in Yemen
- Six terrorists attacked building, handcuffed victims before shooting them
- Foreign Minister says the nuns stayed in Yemen ignoring govt advisories
One Indian nun was among the 16 people killed after gunmen attacked a retirement home run by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in strife-torn Yemen on Friday, the External Affairs Ministry has clarified late last night.
"Of the four nurses killed in Yemen, only one is Indian named Cecilia Minz," External Affairs Ministry Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had tweeted that four Indian nurses were killed in the attack as she asked all Indians living in "danger zones" to return home. She also said the nurses stayed back in Yemen, ignoring advisories by the government.
Two attackers surrounded the home in Aden while four more entered the building, witnesses and officials said.
Officials said the gunmen moved from room to room, handcuffing the victims before shooting them in the head.
On entering, the attackers shot the gatekeeper dead and opened fire. The terrorists escaped soon after.
Reports say one of the nuns who survived hid in a fridge.
Forces loyal to exiled Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi gathered after the attack. (AFP photo)
The nuns were from the Missionaries of Charity founded by Mother Teresa.
Reports from Yemen said the terrorists separated the nuns from the others and shot them.
The home is located in the Sheikh Osman district in Aden.
A witness said apart from the nuns, six Ethiopians, one Yemeni cook, and Yemeni guards were also killed.
The bodies were transferred to a police station and then a hospital run by the aid organization known as Doctors Without Borders or MSF.
There are around 80 residents living at the home. Missionaries of Charity nuns also came under attack in Yemen in 1998 when gunmen killed three nuns in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida.
Aden descended into lawlessness after a Saudi-led coalition recaptured the city from Shiite Houthi rebels last summer.
The terror group ISIS has claimed responsibility for a wave of deadly attacks in Aden, including a suicide bombing that killed the governor and several assassination attempts on top officials.