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 A Reuters witness in Sanaa counted at least 20 bodies immediately
after the attack on a checkpoint held by the Houthis, the country's
main power brokers since their paramilitary forces seized the
capital on Sept. 21 following weeks of anti-government
demonstrations.
Medical sources later said the death toll had risen to at least 42,
including several children. The death toll was expected to climb
further, with many of those wounded in serious or critical
condition, they said.
In a separate incident, at least 20 government soldiers were killed
in a suicide car bombing and gun attack in the country's east on
Thursday, state news agency SABA reported.
The attacks occurred just hours after a political showdown between
the Houthis and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour led to the resignation
of Prime Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, whose appointment on
Tuesday had angered Houthi leaders.
A policeman guarding a local bank near Tahrir Square in central
Sanaa, said a man apparently wearing a suicide belt approached the
Houthi checkpoint.
"He then exploded amidst the (Houthi) security and ordinary people
nearby," the policemen told Reuters.
In Buroom, a coastal region of the eastern Hadramout province, a
suicide bomber drove a car laden with explosives towards an army
camp, while gunmen tried to storm the facility, a local official and
witnesses said. The soldiers beat back the attackers, but SABA said
20 of the troops were killed.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the incidents
appear to mirror previous bombings carried out by Al Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has targeted state institutions,
including the armed forces, and which sees members of the minority
Zaydi sect of Shi'ite Islam as heretics.
Western and Gulf Arab countries are worried that instability in
Yemen could strengthen al Qaeda and have supported a U.N.-backed
political transition since 2012 led by Hadi meant to shepherd the
country to stability after decades of autocracy.
PROTEST
A new Yemeni government is due to be appointed under a power-sharing
accord signed last month aimed at bringing the Houthis into
government. Once a new administration is nominated the Houthis are
meant to withdraw their forces from the city, allowing the army and
police to resume their duties.
The Houthis on Wednesday rejected Hadi's nomination of bin Mubarak
as prime minister, and bin Mubarak announced early on Thursday he
had agreed not to take up the position.
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Houthi followers had been preparing to demonstrate in Tahrir Square
on Thursday to voice opposition to the nomination of bin Mubarak,
previously the head of Hadi's office, on the grounds that his
selection had been imposed by Washington. The United States has
denied the allegation.
The Houthis said the protest would proceed despite the attack, and
thousands of supporters, some armed, converged on the square
chanting slogans against the government and corruption.
"This terrorist attack would not deter us from holding this
demonstration," a local organiser told Reuters.
"UNACCEPTABLE MISTAKE"
The Houthis said they had foiled another attack by two cars on the
square earlier in the morning, destroying one vehicle, while
attackers in a second car managed to escape.
The Houthi capture of Sanaa has alarmed Saudi Arabia, the world's
top oil exporter which shares a long border with Yemen, and other
conservative Gulf Arab states.
On Wednesday evening Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi called for
mass protests against "foreign interference" he said was behind the
appointment of bin Mubarak.
"I assert that together with these marches tomorrow, God willing
there will be important steps that will contribute to correcting
this mistake, which is an unacceptable mistake," Houthi said.
SABA said that Hadi accepted bin Mubarak's decision to turn down the
appointment and resumed consultations to agree on a new prime
minister.
(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari, additional reporting by Mohammed
Mukhashef; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by William Maclean and
Dominic Evans)
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