A suicide bomber targets a protest march in northern Yemen Friday, hours before another killed 12 in a suicide attack on a school.<br/> <br />The bomber attacked a march led by Houthis rebels in the rugged northern province of Saada, where the rebels have effectively carved out their own state within a state.<br/> <br />Hours later another suicide bomb attack killed 12 people at a school, also in northern Yemen.<br/> <br />There are no claims of responsibility for either of Friday's attacks.<br/> <br />Earlier in the week, more bloodshed.<br/> <br />On Wednesday one person died in clashes between riot police and protesters loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.<br/> <br />Yemeni government retook parts of the strategically important city of Zinjibar. The advance of Yemeni troops into Zinjibar represents a new front in a U.S.-backed offensive to reclaim land seized by insurgents in the south.<br/> <br />The loss of Zinjibar would be a blow to the insurgents and bolster the morale of the army after the death toll from Monday's attack on troops rehearsing for a military parade to mark Yemen's national day rose to 100.<br/> <br />Western and Gulf Arab states have watched with mounting alarm as al Qaeda-linked militants have exploited political instability in Yemen to gain a foothold there.<br/> <br />Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters
