At least 42 Killed in Suicide Attack in Yemeni Capital Sanaa

A suicide bomber has killed at least 42 people on Thursday in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The attack happened when hundreds of people were gathering in the Tahrir Square in central Sanaa for a rally called by the Shi'ite Muslim Houthi movement.

According to a Reuters, at least 20 bodies were found immediately after the attack on the checkpoint held by the Houthis. However, medical sources later said that the death toll had risen to at least 42.

Several children also had died in the attack, according to the health officials.

A policeman guarding a bank near the Tahrir Square said that a man seemingly wearing a suicide belt approached the Houthi checkpoint.

"He then exploded amidst the (Houthi) security and ordinary people nearby," said the policeman, reports Reuters.

In a separate incident at Buroom, a coastal region of the eastern Hadramout province, a suicide bomber drove a car loaded with explosives toward an army camp, killing 20 government soldiers and local officials witnesses said. 

Though nobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the incidents bear the hallmark of al Qaeda, which sees the member of the minority Zaydi sect of Shi'ite Islam as heritics. The al Qaeda had also targeted government institutions, including the military before.

A new government is about to be appointed in Yemen, under a power sharing deal signed last month to bring the Houthis into the government. According to the deal, after the formation of the government, the Houthis have to withdraw their forces from the city, permitting the security forces to resume their duties.

The demonstration in Tahrir square by the Houthi followers was against President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi's nomination of Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak for the post of Prime Minister. Though Mubarak announced early Thursday that he would not take up the position. hundreds of Houthi supporters still participated in the rally to show their anger, reports BBC.