Twin suicide attacks kills at least 60 in Yemen

Yemen’s Al-Masirah channel said, the attack took place on Thursday morning when supporters of the rebels, also known as Houthis, were preparing to stage a protest at Central Sanaa’s Al-Tahrir square against a political decision taken by the beleaguered President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.

As per news received, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt at a checkpoint at the entrance to the protest site, with steel balls strewn at the scene.

Witnesses recalled lifeless bodies of four children among the victims.

They also said, scores of people were injured, some of them grievously.

Medics at the nearby Police Hospital issued an urgent plea for more doctors to deal with the number of casualties.

On the other hand, in a separate suicide attack killed 20 Yemeni soldiers in the country's southeast in a car bombing suspected of having been carried out by Al-Qaeda, a Yemeni military officer said.

The soldiers were killed on Thursday when a suspected Al-Qaeda operative detonated his explosives-laden car at an army post on the western outskirts of the southern city of Mukalla, a military official said.

A tank and two army vehicles were destroyed in the blast, the official added.

On Wednesday, suspected Al-Qaeda militants launched a wave of dawn attacks on police and the army in another central town, killing 10 policemen.

Yemen has been wracked by political turmoil and sporadic violence since the 2012 toppling of strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, with rebels and militants battling to exploit a power vacuum and seize control of territory.

Impoverished Yemen, which borders oil-rich Saudi Arabia, is a key US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda, which has carried out persistent attacks on the security forces.

The Houthis, who are also referred to as Ansarullah, swept into the capital on September 21 after fierce battles with forces allied to the government in Sanaa that left more than 270 dead.

The violence-plagued nation plunged into further turmoil after weeks of political deadlock.

In addition to the Houthis swooping south from their Saada stronghold in the north, the authorities have also had to deal with southern secessionist aspirations and a bloody campaign by the country's Al-Qaeda franchise.

It is learnt that earlier this week President named his chief of staff, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, as prime minister following an UN-brokered peace deal under which the insurgents would withdraw from Sanaa.

This infuriated the rebels. Bin Mubarak of course on Wednesday declined to take the post amid fierce rebel opposition saying that he wanted to "preserve the national unity and protect the country from divisions."

Under Houthi pressure, Hadi accepted bin Mubarak's "request to be relieved" of forming a new government, Saba state news agency said.

The bombing in Sanaa came a day after.

No group has claimed responsibility of Thursday's bombings.

But both, according to experts, bear the hallmarks of previous attacks by the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Furthumore, the jihadist group recently vowed to fight the Shia-dominated Houthis in defence of the country's Sunni community.

Supporters of the rebels, gathered after the explosion chanting slogans demanding the fall of President.