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Suicide attack in Sanaa

October 9, 2014

A bomb targeting Shiite Muslims has rocked Yemen's capital. Dozens have been killed or wounded in Sanaa, where supporters of rebels who have overrun the capital were preparing to stage a protest when the bomb exploded.

https://p.dw.com/p/1DSNx
Jemen Selbstmordanschlag in Sanaa 9. Oktober
Image: Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images

A suicide attack killed at least 43 people in the Yemeni capital Thursday. The explosion took place in front of a bank in the central square of Sanaa, injuring scores of people, some of them seriously. The blast targeted a gathering for the Houthis, a Shiite rebel group that overran Sanaa on September 21.

A policemen guarding a local bank near the scene told the news agency Reuters that a man apparently wearing a suicide belt had approached the Houthi checkpoint, and "then exploded amidst the security and ordinary people near by."

The blast came after Yemen's premier-designate Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak turned down his nomination after strong opposition by the Shiite rebels. Yemen's president had accepted Mubarak's request not to serve.

Jemen Houthi-Rebellen
Shiite Muslim Houthi marched into Sanaa in SeptemberImage: REUTERS/K. Abdullah

"The premier has submitted a letter to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in which he asked him to exempt him from forming the new government for the sake of the national unity and in order to spare the country any divisions or disagreements," the Yemeni news agency c reported on Thursday.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the incident appears to mirror previous bombings carried out by a group known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Following the string of rebel victories in and around Sanaa, reprisals were launched against Yemeni Shiites.

Shortly after the explosion in Sanaa, a second suicide attack killed at least 20 soldiers in southeastern Yemen.

mkg/kms (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)