SANAA: A suicide bomber killed 15 people, including children, when he detonated an explosives-laden car near a Shia rebel checkpoint south of the Yemeni capital on Monday, witnesses said.

The blast went off within metres (yards) of the checkpoint in the town of Rada, scene of heavy fighting between the Al Qaeda militants, backed by Sunni tribesmen, and rebels seeking to expand their territorial control. A witness spoke of “charred bodies” left by the powerful explosion, adding that seven people were wounded. A tribal source gave the same death toll.

The assailant appeared to target a delegation of the Houthi rebels as they walked out of a house near the checkpoint, where they had been holding “telephone negotiations” with Al Qaeda representatives, a source said.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2014