SANAA, Yemen (AP) – Gunmen stormed a retirement home run by Catholic nuns in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden on Friday, killing 16 people, including four Indian nuns, Yemeni security officials and witnesses said.
The killing spree began with two gunmen who first surrounded the home for the elderly in Aden while four others entered the building, the witnesses and officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The gunmen then moved from room to room, handcuffing the victims before shooting them in the head. A nun who survived and was rescued by locals said that she hid inside a fridge in a storeroom after hearing a Yemeni guard shouting “run, run.”
Khaled Haidar told The Associated Press that he counted 16 bodies, including that of his brother, Radwan. All had been shot in the head and were handcuffed. He said that in addition to the four Indian nuns, six Ethiopians, one Yemeni cook, and Yemeni guards were among those killed.
He said that his family was the first to arrive at the house and that he spoke to the surviving nun, who was crying and shaking. Haidar said that his family later handed her over to a group of southern fighters in charge of security in the local Aden district of Sheikh Osman.