Yemen car bomb explosion
Policemen gather at the scene of a car bomb attack outside a police college in Sanaa on Jan. 7, 2015. Reuters/Khaled Abdullah

Around 30 people were killed and 50 others injured when a car bomb exploded outside a police college in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Wednesday, media reports said, citing police sources. The victims included college students, people who had queued up for a police recruitment drive, as well as passers-by.

Soon after the explosion, ambulances were rushed to the spot to transport the injured to a nearby hospital, Reuters reported, citing witnesses. No group has taken responsibility for the blast so far, according to BBC.

"What happened is we were all gathering and ... (the bomber) exploded right next to all of the police college classmates," eyewitness Jamil al-Khaleedi told The Associated Press (AP), adding: "It went off among all of them, and they flew through the air."

The blast comes as Shiite rebels, called Houthis, have taken control of large parts of Yemen, including its capital Sanaa, as part of a long-running power struggle with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, according to AP. The group opposes al Qaeda, which has also conducted similar attacks in the country. The U.S. considers al Qaeda's Yemen branch the most dangerous of the militant group as it has been linked with several failed attacks on the U.S.

On Dec. 31, an al Qaeda suicide bomber targeting Houthis, who were commemorating the birth of Prophet Muhammad, killed at least 23 people at a cultural center in the city of Ibb.

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