Huge explosion kills 26 in Yemeni capital Sanaa

A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the police academy in Sanaa A strong explosion rocked the capital Sanaa when an al Qaeda suicide bomber exploded himself at the entrance of the police academy at 1.45 pm local time as officers were taking their leave. Sources informed Arabstoday that 26 people have been killed and dozens wounded in the explosion.
This came less than 24 hours after the al-Qaeda wing in Yemen announced it was set to change its military and tactical strategies after being forced to retreat from its strongholds in the Shabwa and Abyan provinces of South Yemen, sources close to the extremist group revealed to Arabstoday.
Al-Qaeda is expected to extend its conflict with the state\'s army and security forces to reach most of the Yemeni governorates. However al-Qaeda fighters will try to avoid comprehensive confrontations with the army and adopt guerrilla tactics which could be more effective inside the cities.
The sources said that al-Qaeda has plans to establish new Islamist emirates in Yemen after their two emirates, named Waqar and Azan in south Yemen, were seized by the army. The sources, who asked not to be named, did not reveal the proposed locations of the new emirates, saying that the plans will probably be delayed, but did disclose that the group\'s immediate priority is to recruit more Yemeni youth in order to compensate the human losses they endured during recent fighting.
Websites associated with the group have been recently publishing messages directed towards the Yemeni people, especially those living in the regions were al-Qaeda is relatively popular, urging the youth and others to join the group.
Other messages were directed at some military, security and political leaders, threatening them with assassination. Some leading officials and commanders were named in those messages, including General Ghalib al-Qamsh, Chief of Intelligence, Ammar Mohammed Saleh, the under-secretary of the National Security Agency and General Yehia Mohammed Saleh, the Central Security Chief of Staff, the latter two being the nephews of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi\'s name was also listed.
Al-Qaeda attacks in Yemen have expanded to regions that previously rarely witnessed terrorist assaults. Most attacks were carried out using car bombs, and targeted leading military and security officials as well as some government posts.