At least seventeen people, including four Catholic nuns, were killed on Friday, March when armed men attacked a care home for the elderly run by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.
The group
of gunmen raided the home for the elderly located in the Sheik Osman district
of Aden. According to eyewitness reports, two gunmen encircled the facility
while at least four raided the building housing over 80 patients.
More graphic photos after the cut.......
The gunmen
then proceeded to separate four nuns at gunpoint before opening fire on them.
Two of the four slaughtered nuns were Rwanda, one from India and another from
Kenya. One nun managed to survive the attack by hiding inside a refrigerator.
After
killing the nuns, the gunmen then moved from room to room handcuffing the
patients and shooting them in the heads. Six Ethiopians, a Yemeni cook and
Yemeni guards were also killed.
The dead
and injured were taken to the city’s state-run Republican hospital and a health
centre run by Medecins Sans Frontieres. A doctor at the Republican hospital
told the media that some of the dead had arrived with their hands tied behind
their backs. Most had been shot in the head.
Paramedics
said they expected the death toll to rise as some of the wounded had serious
injuries. Officials and medics were unable to provide a figure for the number
of people injured in the attack.
There
were about 80 elderly residents at the home, which was established in 2000 by
Missionaries of Charity, a religious order set up by Mother Teresa. Sunita
Kumar, a spokeswoman for the order in the Indian city of Kolkata, said its
members were “absolutely stunned” at the killing.
"The
sisters were to come back but they opted to stay on to serve people in
Yemen." she said.
Missionaries
of Charity, which also runs homes for the elderly in Taez, Hodeidah and Sanaa,
is the only organisation to provide such a service in Yemen. Local religious
leader Sheikh Mohammed Mahboob blamed the Aden attack on ISIL, which considers
Christians to be heretics.
"The
Islamic fighters have a wrong understanding of Islam" he said.
So far no
group has claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, but reports on the ground
indicate that the slaughter was carried out by Islamic State terrorists or
their affiliates.
Yesterday,
March 5, the Vatican condemned the killings. In a statement relased on behalf
of Pope Francis , the Vatican's Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, said the
pontiff was "shocked and profoundly saddened by the massacre.
"His
Holiness Pope Francis was shocked and profoundly saddened to learn of the
killing of four Missionaries of Charity and twelve others at a home for the
elderly in Aden. He sends the assurance of his prayers for the dead and his
spiritual closeness to their families and to all affected from this act of
senseless and diabolical violence. He prays that this pointless slaughter will
awaken consciences, lead to a change of heart, and inspire all parties to lay
down their arms and take up the path of dialogue. In the name of God, he calls
upon all parties in the present conflict to renounce violence, and to renew
their commitment to the people of Yemen, particularly those most in need, whom
the Sisters and their helpers sought to serve. Upon everyone suffering from
this violence, the Holy Father invokes God’s blessing, and in a special ways he
extends to the Missionaries of Charity his prayerful sympathy and
solidarity".
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