The official said authorities suspected Al-Qaeda was behind
the attack, though it would be the extremist organization's first reported
direct assault on the country's Shiite minority.
Yemen's local branch of Al-Qaeda has been increasingly
active over the past year, assaulting government targets inside the country as
well carrying high profile attacks abroad such as last month's attempt to ship
parcel bombs to the US through cargo planes.
While the militants have always been rhetorically extremely
hostile to Shiites, they have not attacked them directly in Yemen, unlike in
Iraq where the sectarian warfare is more pronounced.
The Yemeni official said the attack took place in Al-Jawf
province, 175 km northeast of the capital, Sanaa and those killed were
supporters of the Houthi rebels, a tribal group which has waged an on-and-off
uprising against the government.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the
ongoing investigation.
A Houthi spokesman confirmed the casualties and added that
the rebels also suspected Al-Qaeda involvement. He spoke on condition of
anonymity for fear of government reprisals.
"It was a suicide bombing and it was the work of
Al-Qaeda," a tribal chief said. "The suicide bomber driving a
four-wheel drive vehicle blew himself up alongside the procession," he
said.
"Among the dead was provincial tribal chief Hussein bin
Ahmed bin Hadhban and his son."
The attack comes two months after Al-Qaeda accused the
Houthis of nabbing two of its members and handing them over to the security
chief of Saada province.
Since January 2009, when Al-Qaeda's battered Saudi and
Yemeni branches merged to form Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terror
group has become increasingly emboldened, directing attacks in the capital and
across the countryside against officials and foreigners.
The mountains of Al-Jawf and neighboring Saada and Amran
provinces have been a stronghold of the rebels in the uprising they have been
waging against the Sanaa government on and off for the past six years.
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
warned on Tuesday that there had been an "alarming escalation" in
fighting in the region, despite the nine-month-old truce. The agency said that
aid agencies and witnesses had reported that clashes between the rebels and
pro-government tribes had erupted in Saada province on Nov. 13.
"At least 20 people have been killed reportedly and
others wounded over the past 10 days in the worst violence in northern Yemen
since the signing of the cease-fire in February," UNHCR spokesman Andrej
Mahecic said, speaking before the latest unrest.
The Yemeni Army launched a major offensive against the
rebels in August last year sparking a new round of conflict that spilled over
the border into Saudi Arabia.
