Deadly blast kills at least 30 in Yemen capital Sanaa

At least 30 people have been killed and many others injured by a blast outside a police college in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, securitysources say. A car bomb was detonated beside people queuing to enrol in the police force, police officials said. Continue..

Witnesses said the blast was heard across the city and a large plume of smoke was seen.

Yemen has been unstable since protests in 2011 forced then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh from office.

Photographs at the scene of Wednesday's explosion showed the wreckage of a vehicle. Bodies were seen lying in the street, witnesses said.

Local journalist Nasser Arrabyee told the BBC that a suicide bomber drove his car into the queue of students, who had come from all over the country for the fourth and busiest day of the recruitment drive.

Mr Arrabyee said that police estimated that as many as 40 people had been killed and 100 injured.

No group has so far said it was behind the blast. However, jihadist militants belonging to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have in the past targeted the security forces.

Yemen has been plagued by instability since the start of anti-government protests in 2011, which resulted in President Saleh standing down in 2012 after 33 years in power.

Since then ministers have battled a growing al-Qaeda presence, often with the help of US drone strikes.

In November a new cabinet was formed in an effort to defuse mounting political tensions.

The 24-strong administration, headed by Prime Minister-Designate Khalid Bahah, includes Shia Houthi rebels who seized the capital Sanaa in September.

The security forces meanwhile have been fighting AQAP, in November killing one of its senior commanders in what correspondents said was a significant blow for the organisation.