1.1438756-4175987889
A televised speech by Al Houthi leader Abdul Malek Al Houthi in Sana’a on January 3. Al Houthis represent the strongest challenge in years to American influence in Yemen and have been sharply critical of US policies that have stoked anger. Image Credit: Reuters

Sana’a: Police in Yemen have arrested six people suspected of involvement in Wednesday’s bombing of a police college in Sana’a, the capital’s police chief told Yemeni television on Thursday.

The car bomb, which exploded in the street outside the college, killed 40 people and wounded another 71, according to the latest casualty toll provided by state news agency Saba on Thursday. The authorities have blamed Al Qaida militants.

More fugitive suspects were still being pursued, police chief Abdul Razaq Al Muayyid told Al Masirah television, which is owned by members of the powerful Al Houthi northern rebel clan.

Muayyid gave no further details.

Earlier on Thursday, Al Masirah reported that the suspects had been caught by police in collaboration with the Popular Committees, which are Al Houthi-led groups of fighters.

The militias have themselves been the target of suspected Al Qaida attacks in recent weeks.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s bombing but an official source in Yemen’s Supreme Security Committee, cited by Saba, blamed “Al Qaida terrorist elements” for the attack.

Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), is one of the militant group’s most active wings.

Wednesday’s attack was the second to cause multiple casualties in a week. A suicide bomb last Thursday killed 26 people at a cultural centre in Ibb city.