SANAA // A suicide bomber driving a car loaded with explosives rammed the gates of Yemen’s defence ministry on Thursday in a coordinated assault that killed at least 52 people, including soldiers, foreign doctors and nurses.

The Yemeni Higher Security Committee confirmed the death toll and said 162 people were wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, in which at least 10 militants were killed. But senior Yemeni defence officials said it bore the hallmarks of an attack by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which had recently issued threats to attack government installations.

After the initial thundering blast was heard across the capital, a vehicle carrying more than 13 militants dressed in army uniforms and armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades rushed through the destroyed gates and past the dead bodies of soldiers.

The attack appeared to target the compound’s main building and a base hospital. At least 10 explosions shattered windows for blocks around the compound and a gun battle ensued between soldiers and militants.

Sameer Al Ariqi, the owner of a nearby shop, said government forces were unprepared for the attack, which occurred at 9am and offered little resistance.

“The troops were lying dead in front of the main gate and the militants did not see much resistance when they raided the compound,” Mr Al Ariqi said.

By noon, up to 2,000 security forces were deployed around the capital to deter further attacks. Checkpoints were erected and roads leading to the ministry compound were closed.

Filipinos, Germans and a Venezuelan were said to be among those who died in the attack.

Yemen’s interim president, Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, later arrived at the scene and met military commanders inside the complex.

Mr Hadi also ordered an investigation into the incident, military officials said.

The officials said the blast badly damaged a hospital inside the complex, started a fire and blew out windows and the doors of homes and offices in the immediate vicinity. The blast and the subsequent gunfight destroyed an armoured vehicle belonging to the army and reduced three civilian cars outside the complex to charred skeletons.

The defence ministry said gunmen occupied the hospital after the explosion, but that security forces had regained control of the building.

The latest spate of violence to beset Yemen underscored the country’s fragility. Last week, two Belarusian military instructors working in collaboration with Yemen’s armed forces were gunned down by unknown assailants as they left their hotel.

The assault came as Yemen’s defence minister, Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, was in Washington for talks with US officials.

Abdul Salam Mohammed, president of the Abaad Research Centre, said the government was powerless to prevent such attacks. Al Qaeda and disgruntled supporters of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled Yemen for 22 years until he was forced from power last year, “have the power and ability to halt any success the government seeks”, he said.

One senior Yemeni defence official, citing the army uniforms worn by the attacks, said the country’s security forces had been infiltrated “years ago” by Al Qaeda supporters.

Last month, suspected Al Qaeda militants stormed the Mukalla military headquarters in Hadramout province, killing more than 20 troops.

Mr Hadi, recently hailed Yemen’s progress in the fight against Al Qaeda, saying that the group was less active in the country than it was two years ago, when it was able to take over briefly the province of Abyan and set up a local government adhering to a strict form of Sharia.

Although Yemen has won international accolades for its successful and largely peaceful transition of power following the uprising against Mr Saleh, many obstacles remain along the path to the drafting of a new constitution and the holding of fresh elections.

A national dialogue among Yemen’s political factions has stalled, separatist sentiment is undergoing a revival in the south and fighting in the northern province of Saada between members of the Houthi rebels tribe and Salafist groups have left more than 200 people dead.

Mohammed Abulahoum, president of the Sanaa-based Justice and Building Party, said attacks such as Thursday’s cannot be allowed to impede progress. “We need to push forward if Yemen has a chance to prosper,” he said.

foreign.desk@thenational.ae

* With additional reporting from Associated Press