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Yemen’s deepening crisis took a terrible human toll on Friday when a series of coordinated suicide bombings targeting mosques in the capital Sana’a killed 137 people and injured 345 others. At least 13 children were among the dead, Guardian reported.

A group claiming to be a Yemeni branch of Islamic State said that five suicide bombers had carried out a “blessed operation” against the “dens of the Shia”. The Badr and al-Hashoosh mosques were hit when they were packed with worshippers during noon Friday prayers.

The claim, made online, could not be independently confirmed and offered no proof of an Isis role. But it was posted on the same website on which the Isis affiliate in Libya claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on a museum in neighbouring Tunisia.

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the US had seen no indications of an operational link between Isis and Friday’s attacks. He said the US was investigating to see whether the Isis branch in Yemen has the command-and-control structure in place to substantiate its claim of responsibility.