Attack kills 16 at U.S. embassy in Yemen

SANAA, Yemen, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- At least 16 people died in front of the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday when a car bomb struck the gates of the compound, a Yemeni official said.

Security forces thwarted what they said was a suicide attack by preventing cars rigged for explosion from entering the compound, the Yemeni news agency Saba reported.

Killed in the explosion were six terrorists, four civilians and six security forces guarding the embassy, Saba reported. Three others were reported injured.

No Americans were killed or injured in the blast, a Yemeni official told The New York Times.

Embassy spokesman Ryan Gliha said the embassy would remain closed after the morning attack, but offered no other details.

Two cars were involved with the attack, Yemeni officials told CNN. The first contained people dressed in police uniforms who fired upon Yemeni security forces. The second car exploded after it passed an outermost gate to the embassy but before it reached a second barrier, officials said.

Gliha said the blast caused damage to the gate of the compound, but did not affect buildings within.

Trev Mason, a British citizen who witnessed the attack, told CNN he saw "a massive fireball."

"We heard the sounds of a heavy gun battle going on," Mason said. "I looked out my window, and we saw the first explosion going off -- a massive fireball very close to the U.S. Embassy."

The United States in April ordered non-essential employees at its embassy in the Yemeni capital to leave the country after a rocket attack on a compound housing Western and other international oil workers. The order was lifted last week.