On Sunday 4 South Korean tourists were killed in a suicide bomb attack in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Shibam Hadramout. 2 Yemenis working as tour guides were also killed. A number of others in the group were injured. I also understand that 4 Spanish students were close by and were not injured.

Here’s some links to the story:

BBC – Tourists Die In Explosion

Reuters – Qaeda Bomber Behind Yemen Attack Trained In Somalia

CNN – Al Qaeda Blamed

In the last 2 years there has been some high profile terrorist attacks in Yemen. In the summer of 2007 a group of Spanish tourists were targeted at the ‘Sheba’ temple complex in Marib. Following that in January 2008, a tourist convoy of Belgians were attacked on the road to Hajarain in Wadi Doan – an area in Hadramout. There is now the latest incident involving tourists.

It is somewhat harshly ironic that Hadramout means ‘Death Comes’. It was so named hundreds of years ago as the region is hot, dusty, dry and tribal. The name seems sadly more than apt in the 21st Century.

My last visit to Hadramout was in October 2008. It was very different than previous trips. More security, some restrictions on movement and when visiting Shibam i was asked for my details by an elder of the town.  As always i moved using local transport.  Using high profile tourist 4 X 4’s has never been my preferred mode of transport and for sure it wont be now.  Are some of the Yemeni tour companies compromised by Al Qaeda sympathisers or operatives? You can’t help but wonder, and i genuinely hate to as that question has serious implications for the Yemen tourism industry.

If you are looking for advice on business or travel through Yemen, of course you should contact your government, and feel free to drop me a line.