29 inmates escape, seven killed in Yemen prison attack

Twenty-nine prisoners escaped and seven were killed in an attack on the central prison in Yemen’s capital Thursday night.

{mosads}Yemen’s state news agency SABA reported that the attackers detonated a car bomb at the facility, creating a hole in the wall that allowed the prisoners to escape.

Seven guards and policemen were killed during the attack and four others were injured, according to SABA.

Of the 29 escaped prisoners, 19 are convicted al Qaeda prisoners who had plotted the assassinations of Yemen President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi and western diplomats, according to The Associated Press.

Yemen has a history of jailbreaks where inmates convicted of terrorism have escaped.

That risk has been one of the reasons Republicans say the Obama administration should not release any detainees at Guantánamo Bay to Yemen.

President Obama last year lifted a moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen — a key step to fulfilling his pledge to closing the prison — but the administration has not yet transferred any detainees there.