Germany: 3 aid workers killed in Yemen

BERLIN (AP) Two German aid workers and a Yemeni colleague were killed in an insurgent attack in Yemen, Germany's foreign minister said Thursday.

Guido Westerwelle said the victims worked for Germany's state-linked GIZ aid organization in Yemen, but provided no further details about them.

The attack Thursday at a heavily guarded compound in the capital of Sanaa also claimed the lives of at least 18 Yemeni soldiers.

"The German government harshly condemns this cowardly attack," Westerwelle told reporters in Berlin. "These terrible crimes cannot be justified."

Westerwelle urged Yemeni authorities to find those responsible for the attack and hold them to account.

"Yemen must not become a place of terrorism," he said.

According to the organization's website, the GIZ has been operating in Yemen since 1969 and opened offices in Sanaa 30 years ago.

In 2011, about 57 German nationals and international staff as well as 138 national employees worked for the GIZ in Yemen, one of the world's least developed countries.