Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh A suicide bomber was killed while five Yemeni soldiers were wounded in a car bomb which targeted a military checkpoint on the road linking Sanaa to Marib, 170 km east of the Yemeni capital. Security sources stated that the suicide bomber, who has not been indentified yet, drove a Toyota Pick-up with explosives attached to it, and detonated the bomb causing his immediate death and the injury of the Yemeni soldiers, including the officer in charge of the checkpoint.
The sources confirmed that the wounded soldiers are in critical conditions.
A security source stated he believes Al-Qaeda is behind the attack; however, he said investigation is underway to find out the motives of the attack.
Meanwhile, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has taken a preventive step in view of the presidential elections next Tuesday by issuing the order to remove his pictures from institutional places and to replace them with that of Abd Rabo Mansour Hadi, the consensus candidate that will be elected to presidency.
Yemen News Agency (SABA) reported the news on Wednesday.
Yemeni Political sources believed that the action is a clever step from Saleh, especially as it confirms his support to Hadi as a new president and denies any accusation of disrupting the elections that he might face in the future.
However, the same sources told 'Arabstoday' that the idea of lifting photos was opposed by Yemenis, who consider the action to support autonomy.