2007 Temple of Awwam bombing

On 2 July 2007, a suicide attack involving a car bomb took place at the Temple of Awwam, a popular tourist attraction in Marib Governorate, Yemen. The attack was perpetrated by al-Qaeda in Yemen, partly as a means to demonstrate its resurgence since the previous year. A cell of militants recruited and trained 21-year-old Abdu Muhammad Sa'ad Ahmed Ruhayqah to drive a explosive-laden car into a convoy of tourists from Spain who were set to visit the temple. On the day of the bombing, Ruhayqah parked his car by the road leading to the temple and then rammed it into the four-vehicle tourist convoy as it was exiting the site. Eight tourists and two Yemeni drivers were killed, while an additional five tourists, two drivers and four security personnel were left injured.

A joint investigation into the bombing was initiated by the Audiencia Nacional in Spain with participation from Yemeni investigators. An 11-man al-Qaeda cell was publicly identified in August by Yemeni authorities as the perpetrators of the attack, none of whom were in custody by that point. As time went on, cooperation between Spanish and Yemeni authorities had waned, leading to the Audiencia Nacional closing their case in 2011. Raids undertaken by Yemeni security forces had killed several suspects connected in the bombing, including Egyptian militant Ahmed Bassiouni Dewidar as well as Ali bin Ali Douha, head of the cell in Marib responsible for it. In 2015, an alleged former al-Qaeda informant claimed he had warned the Yemeni government of the attack multiple times prior to its occurrence but was ignored.

The attack was met with condemnation from Yemeni and Spanish officials and demonstrations against it from people in both countries. It had a notable negative impact on tourism in Yemen, and was indicative of the renewed threat posed by al-Qaeda.