Suicide bombs kill scores in Yemen

Sanaa: Suicide bombers targeting Yemen’s powerful Shia Houthi group and an army camp killed at least 67 people in two separate attacks on Thursday.

The attacks came hours after a political crisis forced the new prime minister to step down. At least 47 people were killed, including four children, when a suicide bomber detonated a belt packed with explosives at a Houthi checkpoint in the centre of the capital Sanaa where Houthi supporters were preparing to hold a rally. Body parts were scattered across Tahrir Square and pools of blood formed on the asphalt after the blast, which also wounded at least 75 people.

In eastern Yemen, where the militant group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has waged repeated attacks on army installations and government facilities in recent months, at least 20 soldiers were killed in a suicide car bombing and gun attack on an army outpost, state news agency SABA reported.

The attacks occurred just hours after a showdown between the Houthis and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour forced Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, to turn down the post.