Suicide Bomb in Yemeni Capital Kills 20

At least 20 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, security sources say.

One unconfirmed report said as many as 50 people might have been killed.

The assailant targeted soldiers practicing for a military parade to mark National Unity Day on Tuesday, which the president is due to attend.

The bomber, who was wearing military uniform, blew himself up among the soldiers as they marched in al-Sabin Square, near the presidential palace.

Witnesses said remains of the victims were scattered across the square, where large military parades are often held. Ambulances rushed to the area to take survivors to hospital.

National Unity Day marks the anniversary of the unification of the Marxist People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, also known as South Yemen, and the Yemen Arab Republic, known as North Yemen, in 1990.

Monday’s attack comes 10 days after the military launched an offensive against Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in the southern province of Abyan.

Over the weekend, at least 33 militants and 19 soldiers were reportedly killed in clashes near the town of Jaar, in Abyan, which has been under control of Ansar al-Sharia – an offshoot of AQAP – since last year.

On Sunday, a US military instructor was shot and wounded by unidentified gunmen as he drove through the eastern Red Sea port of Hodeida. Ansar al-Sharia later said in a statement that it had been behind the attack.

Ansar al-Sharia, or Partisans of Islamic law, was founded in response to the growing youth movement in Yemen, which has marginalized Salafi jihadists who advocate the violent overthrow of the government.

In November, protesters forced President Ali Abdullah Saleh to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, as part of a deal brokered by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC).

Mr Hadi was elected president in February and immediately said one of his most important tasks was the “continuation of war against al-Qaeda as a religious and national duty”.

The president has also moved to restructure the military, trying to purge it it of those closest to his predecessor, according to BBC.