Al- Qaeda has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in Yemen [EPA]

US targets in Yemen, including its embassy in Sanaa which came under attack on Wednesday, have been the focus of violence in the past.

Following are the main attacks on foreign targets in Yemen since 2000:

2000

Oct 12: Al-Qaeda fighters claim responsibility for attacking the USS Cole, a naval destroyer in the southern port of Aden, killing at least 17 US sailors and injuring 38 others.

Oct 13: A blast targets the British embassy in Sanaa, but there are no casualties.

2001

Jan 1: An explosion blasts a hole into the wall of a Protestant church in the heart of Aden and a shell targets the Continental hotel but misses.

2002

Oct 6: In a near repeat of the attack on the USS Cole, al-Qaeda claims responsibility for ramming a small boat loaded with explosives into the Limburg, a French oil tanker. A Bulgarian crew member was killed in the attack.

Dec 30: A Yemeni fighter targets health workers at a Baptist hospital in Jibla, a town around 200km south of Sanaa, killing at least three US doctors.

2003

March 18: An armed Yemeni targets an oil company in the Marib province, 170km northeast of Sanaa. A US citizen, a Canadian and a Yemeni are killed in the attack. The attacker then shoots himself dead.

2007

June 23: A Yemeni soldier opens fire on oil workers at the US-owned Occidental Petroleum Corporation, killing one and wounding six others, including its chief executive.

July 2: A suicide bomber rams his explosive-laden car into a tourist convoy, killing at least seven Spaniards and two Yemenis. Four police guards escorting the tourists were also wounded in the attack near an ancient temple in the eastern Marib region.

2008

Jan 18: A man opened fire in Hadramawt province, 800km east of Sanaa, killing two Belgian tourists and their Yemeni driver. Four other Belgians were wounded.

March 18: Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for mortar fire that US diplomats said targeted their embassy, killing a school girl and a policeman and leaving 19 others injured.

April 6: A Yemeni group calling itself Jund al-Yemen Brigade claims responsibility for an attack on a US housing compound in Sanaa. There were no casualties, but it forced the US embassy to evacuate non-essential diplomatic staff out of Yemen.

Sept 17: At least 16 people are killed in an attack on the US embassy in Sanaa.

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