At least 16 students and 10 others were killed Tuesday in two suicide bombings in Yemen, the Associated Press reported.
A car filled with explosives hidden beneath potatoes detonated as it struck a checkpoint guarded by Shi'ite rebels, witnesses said. A school bus was passing by at the same time the explosion occurred in the town of Radda, located 100 miles south of Yemen's capital Sanaa.
The second bomb went off when a car drove into the home of Shi'ite rebel leader Abdullah Idris, the AP reported. Witnesses said body parts and potatoes littered the scene after the explosions in Baydah province. The rebels, known as the Houthis, were seen piling bodies onto pickup trucks as ambulances transported survivors for medical attention.
At least 26 people, including 16 elementary school students, were killed, Yemeni security officials said. Ten of the victims were reportedly civilians and rebels, however the exact number of civilian deaths is unclear. Other reports say all of the students were girls.
Houthis rebels have blamed the attack on the extremist group al-Qaeda, with whom the rebels have been fighting ever since they took over Sanaa and other key cities in October, the AP reported. A previous attempt was also made on Idris' house in October.
Tuesday's attack was "the ugliest crime against childhood," unnamed rebels told the AP.
The rebels are also embroiled in a political struggle with Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansuor Hadi, who is accused of supporting U.N. sanctions on rebel-backed ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The attack came the same day more than 100 students were killed and another 100 were wounded after Taliban gunmen open fired inside a school in Pakistan.
