Wadi Dawan
Wadi Dawan (Arabic: وَادِي دَوْعَن, romanized: Wādī Daw‘an) is a town and desert valley in central Yemen. Located in the Hadhramaut Governorate, it is noted for its mud brick buildings.
Wadi Dawan وَادِي دَوْعَن (in Arabic) Raybun | |
---|---|
Al-Kuraibah | |
Wadi Dawan Location in Yemen | |
Coordinates: 15°15′51″N 48°20′27″E | |
Country | |
Governorate | Hadhramaut |
Time zone | UTC+03:00 (Yemen Standard Time) |
Modern history
On January 18, 2008, an ambush attack on Belgian tourists traveling in a convoy through the valley took place. A convoy of four jeeps carrying 15 tourists to Shibam were ambushed by gunmen in a hidden pickup truck.[1] Two Belgian women, Claudine Van Caillie, of Bruges, 63, and Katrine Glorie, from East Flanders, 54, as well as two Yemenis, a driver and a guide, were killed; another man was also heavily wounded, several others suffered minor wounds.[2] The tourists were repatriated to Belgium on January 19, except the injured man, who remained in Sana'a.[3]
In the wake of the attack, Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karel De Gucht originally rejected that Al-Qaeda might be responsible, explaining that although the possibility could be avoided, internecine disputes and latent Islamism also to be taken into account.[2] A number of arrests were made on January 21.[4]
See also
- Hadhramaut Mountains
References
- BBC NEWS - Al-Qaeda attack Belgian Tourists
- (in French) Deux Belges tuées au Yémen, Le Soir, January 18, 2008.
- (in French) Yémen: les touristes belges rapatriés, Le Soir, January 19, 2008.
- (in French) Plusieurs suspects arrêtés au Yémen, Le Soir, January 21, 2008.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wadi Dawan. |