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DUBAI, UAE - An Al-Qaeda group has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed four South Korean tourists in Yemen this month, the SITE Intelligence Group said on Friday.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said in a statement, whose authenticity could not be confirmed, that the attack was to avenge the killing of leaders of an Islamist militant group in a raid last year, SITE said.
The statement also said it was in revenge for South Korea's role in the 'war on Islam' and for tourism which 'corrupts the morals and belief of Muslims.'
A suicide bomber blew himself in the historic eastern city of Shibam on March 15, killing four South Korean tourists and their Yemeni guide. Three days later, a similar attack targeted a South Korean delegation in the capital Sanaa, but there were no casualties.
Authorities in Yemen said on Wednesday they had detained six Al-Qaeda suspects over the attacks on the visitors, which was followed by a foiled suicide attack against a South Korean delegation.
Yemen, the ancestral land of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has witnessed a number of attacks claimed by Al-Qaeda on foreign missions, tourist sites and oil installations.
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