Suicide bombing attacks Yemeni security soldiers, 50 killed

Sanaa, May 21 (Xinhua-ANI): Several suicide bombers blew themselves up among security soldiers who were practising for a military parade in Yemen's capital of Sanaa on Monday, killing some 50 people, police officials said.

Police officials told Xinhua that at least 50 soldiers were killed after a number of suicide bombers targeted the soldiers in al-Sabeen square, a few meters northwest of the presidential palace.

The parade was scheduled for Tuesday to mark Yemen's 22nd anniversary of reunification.

Officials said the suicide bombers wearing security uniform blew themselves up among the soldiers when they marched through al- Sabeen square. They said the attack bore the hallmark of the al- Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen's resurgent terrorist off-shoot.

The explosion occurred when Yemen's defense minister and chief of staff of the army arrived at the square, however, they survived the suicide bombing.

The injured have been taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, according to the police.

Witnesses said human remains were scattered across the explosion site and policemen have cordoned off the scene.

According to sources from the defense ministry, the ministry received intelligence last week that unidentified militants were planning to carry out suicide car bombing attack in Sanaa.

Monday's attack is most deadly one since President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took over power in February. He pledged that large- scale attacks will continue to strike al-Qaida bastions "until we have eradicated their presence in every village."

It also comes 10 days into a massive army offensive against Al- Qaeda in Yemen's restive southern Abyan province, where the jihadists have seized control of a string of towns and cities in attacks launched since last May.

With the support of the U.S. experts and drones, the Yemeni government has launched an "all-out offensive" against al-Qaida militants for nine days in the southern province of Abyan.

The ongoing fighting has left more than two hundred people from both sides killed, while thousands of civilians have fled to neighboring provinces of Aden and Lahj.(Xinhua-ANI)