Ten killed in Yemen mosque shooting spree

Sana'a, Yemen - Ten people were killed and 15 injured after a gunman believed to be mentally ill opened fire at worshippers during weekly prayers in a village mosque in north-western Yemen Friday, officials said.

The officials said the assailant opened fire from a machinegun as worshippers were performing the prayers in a small mosque in the Bait al-Aqari village of Kohal district in the province of Amran, about 70 kilometres north of the capital Sana'a.

They said the attacker was arrested, and that he told interrogators he was acting personally.

Six people died on the spot and four others died after they were rushed to hospitals in the provincial city of Amran and Sana'a.

Fifteen people were still receiving treatment in two Sana'a hospitals, according to the officials.

'He is mentally disturbed and he has been in dispute with the some people in the village,' a tribal chieftain told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa on condition of anonymity.

'He opened fire indiscriminately, and two of his relatives were among the dead,' he said.

Attacks on mosques are not unusual acts in this impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.

In the most recent attack, 16 people were killed and scores injured after a booby-trapped motorcycle blew up outside a mosque after the weekly prayers in north-western Saada province on May 2.