Sana'a: Yemen's Minister of Human Rights Huria Mashhour has called for a transparent investigation into the death of nearly one hundred soldiers.
"We want a transparent investigation to identify those people who orchestrated this horrific crime against the innocent soldiers," Huria told Gulf News.
"We want to know how this [suicide bomber] got into this well-guarded area. By carrying out this terrorist attack, many parties tend to spoil our celebrations of the unification day."
Also in the capital, a local source expected that president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi was due to announce national mourning for the death of the soldiers.
The explosion in Sana'a's Sabaeen Square left scenes of carnage, with bloodied victims and body parts strewn across the ten-lane road where the rehearsal was held yesterday morning, not far from the presidential palace.
The defence ministry said at least 95 soldiers were killed and 222 wounded.
"We had just finished the parade. We were saluting our commander when a huge explosion went off," said soldier Amr Habib. "It was a gruesome attack. Many soldiers were killed and others had their arms and legs blown off."
One investigator said preliminary findings suggested the suicide bomber was a rogue soldier rather than a man in a disguise.
"The suicide bomber was dressed in a military uniform. He had a belt of explosives underneath," said a man who identified himself as Colonel Ameen Al Alghabati, his hands and uniform flecked with blood.
‘Dozens paralysed'
The usual security procedure for such an event would involve checks being made on the soldiers at their bases before being transported to the site of the parade in army vehicles.
The wounded were ferried to hospital in taxis.
"Most of the injuries are to the head, we have dozens paralysed. We expect the death toll to rise. Most of the injured here are boys in their teens. Sana'a's hospitals are overwhelmed," said doctor Mohsin Al Dahari.
In response to two days of violence, Hadi sacked two senior commanders and allies of his predecessor Saleh, whom he replaced in February.
One of them, a nephew of Saleh's, was the head of national security, an intelligence gathering unit that works closely with the CIA.
The impoverished state has seen a spate of deadly attacks since Hadi took office saying he would extinguish an Islamist insurgency, which until now has been concentrated in the south.
At least seven militants and seven soldiers were killed in clashes when Islamist fighters attacked an army position near the southern town of Zinjibar yesterday, residents and a local official said.
Yemeni troops closed in on the southern militant-held town of Jaar on Sunday in heavy fighting, part of a new US-backed offensive launched earlier this month to regain control of territory and towns seized by Ansar Al Sharia.
The parade was scheduled for today to mark the unification of north and south Yemen, previously separate states, which were merged in 1990.
Meanwhile, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh was taken to hospital on Sunday, Saleh's party said.
The party's website reported that he went to hospital for a regular health check and small operations.
— With additional inputs from Reuters
