More than 40 people have been killed in a suicide bombing in the center of Yemen's capital and car bomb attacks against two military bases in eastern Hadarmout province.

A witness told the Reuters news agency on Thursday that they had counted at least 20 bodies in the suicide attack in Tahrir Square in Sanaa. Dozens more were injured in the blast, including children.

Al Jazeera's correspondent in the capital said the explosion seemed to have been targeting a gathering of Houthis in the square, who were planning to stage a protest.

In eastern Hadarmout province, a car bomb struck an army checkpoint, while 13 soldiers were killed in another car bomb attack on al-Mukalla army base.

The blasts come a day after Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, picked to be Yemen's prime minister as part of a UN-brokered peace deal, turned down the offer. Houthi rebels had rejected his nomination.

The Houthi rebels swooped south into the capital city from their Sadaa stronghold in the north last month, demanding a new government and more political power for their community.

PHOTO CAPTION

Shi'ite Houthi rebels man a checkpoint in Sanaa October 8, 2014.

Al-Jazeera