SANAA, Yemen -- Two suicide car bombers rammed their vehicles into a Shiite rebel checkpoint and a house south of the Yemeni capital Tuesday, killing at least 26 people, according to the Yemeni government, rebels and witnesses.
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The attack happened as a school bus was traveling nearby, and at least 16 primary school students were said to be among those killed.
Witnesses said the first car was loaded with potatoes apparently disguising explosives underneath. When the car bomber arrived at the checkpoint manned by rebels, he blew up the vehicle as the students' bus was passing. After the first explosion, a second car targeted the home of a Shiite rebel leader, Abdullah Idris.
State TV quoted the country's Supreme Security Committee -- Yemen's highest security body -- as saying that at least 26 people, 16 students and 10 other civilians, were killed in the two bombings.
Witnesses at the site of the attack said the rebels took four pickups and dumped dozens of bodies into them while several ambulances rushed to the scene to carry away the wounded. Body parts and potatoes littered the street.
The Shiite rebels, known as the Houthis, blamed al-Qaida for the attack in the Radaa area of Baydah province, calling it "the ugliest crime against childhood." The group said the school bus was carrying female primary school students.
The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear retribution.
This is the second time Idris' house has been targeted since October. The Houthis and al-Qaida have been fighting in Radaa since the rebels overran the area in October.
The Shiite rebels have made significant military advances in recent months, seizing control of the capital and other strategic cities.
Yemen has been gripped by a power struggle between President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the Houthis, who have allied with his predecessor, ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
On Tuesday, Saleh loyalists, who form the majority of the parliament, derailed a vote of confidence on the new government's program. A raucous session Tuesday abruptly ended before a vote after Saleh loyalists bickered over internal party politics.
They accuse Hadi of backing United Nations sanctions against Saleh and two top rebel leaders. They have called on the government to explicitly denounce the sanctions.
Also Tuesday, Shiite rebel gunmen, who seized control of Sanaa in September, surrounded the ministry of defense and packed the city's nearby streets, preventing the minister from accessing his office.
A day earlier, the minister had kicked out the rebels from around the ministry for blocking his chief of staff from entering.
Later, Hadi drove to the ministry, effectively ending the siege.
A Section on 12/17/2014