A suicide attacker has killed 15 soldiers and wounded at least 40 more in a car bombing at Yemen's defence ministry.
Military officials said up to 12 gunmen were also killed in a fire fight between troops and a carload of attackers who arrived minutes after the bomb detonated, apparently in a bid to take over the complex in the centre of Sanaa, Yemen's capital.
The gunmen were armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of al Qaida, whose chapter in Yemen is considered among the world's most active.
The defence ministry issued a brief statement confirming the attack. It said "most" of the gunmen had been killed, but did not say how many there were.
Officials said the blast badly damaged a hospital inside the complex, started a fire and blew out windows and doors of homes and offices in the immediate vicinity.
The blast and the subsequent gun fight destroyed an armoured vehicle belonging to the army and reduced three civilian cars outside the complex to charred skeletons, witnesses said.
Military helicopters hovered over the site after the blast and state television aired calls for blood donations.
