An explosion rocked an area near the Italian embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa early on Wednesday, but there were no casualties, police said. According to Reuters, the blast targeted the customs authority, which is adjacent to the Italian embassy, police said, adding it was not yet clear what type of explosive devise was used.
Streets around the embassy were cordoned off, witnesses said.
On Tuesday, eight Shiite gunmen and three troops were killed in clashes in Yemen's Saada province, a tribal source said. Both sides used heavy weapons in the clashes in the district of Haydan, the source said. A fourth soldier was injured, he added.
The army arrested 16 people on suspicion of being members of the Shiite group. Violent clashes in the same district last week had killed one soldier and wounded another.
The clashes came as a team of Qatari mediators returned to the capital Sanaa on Thursday in a fresh bid to help the Yemeni government and Shiite militants reach a deal over the implementation of a peace accord agreed in June 2007.
