SANAA, Nov. 26, 2010 (Xinhua) --

At least 40 people were killed on Friday when a car bomb hit followers of Houthi-led Shiite procession in Yemen's northern province of Saada, second of its kind in less than three days, a local councilman said.

At least 40 Houthi-led Shiite rebels' followers were killed and several others wounded early Friday in Sihaar district in Saada when a suicide bomber drove his car into a Shiite convey in their way to the funeral of Bader al-Deen al-Houthi, a spiritual leader of the Houthis who died on Thursday, the councilman told Xinhua.

Bader al-Deen al-Houthi, the father of Saada-based rebel commander Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, who waged an on-and-off uprising against the government in the northern restive province of Saada, was confirmed dead on Thursday, aged 86.

The convey of Shiite followers came from neighboring Marib province, southwest of Saada. "Some witnesses said the suicide car bomb was coming with the convoy of about 20 cars from Marib," the councilman said on condition of anonymity.

"Houthi rebels have cordoned off the whole area and prevented local authorities from entering the area to investigate the deadly attack," he added.

Earlier, a security official of the Sanaa-based Interior ministry told Xinhua that at least nine people were injured in the car bomb explosion. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Wednesday, a car bomb explosion hit a Yemeni Shiite convoy in the country's northern province of al-Jouf on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people including the attackers, a local councilman told Xinhua.

"We have learned that 15 leaders of Houthi-led Shiite rebels were killed and the driver of the car bomb was also killed in the attack that targeted the Shiite religious convoy in Motoun district in al-Jouf," councilman Hussain al-Hemiary said.

The attack also left about 12 others wounded, he added.

An official of the Interior Ministry in Sanaa, the capital, told Xinhua that the attack bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida.

"We have reports that al-Qaida has expanded its operations towards northern areas located in the Yemeni-Saudi joint border long ago and what happened today was not the first operation of al- Qaida," the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Yemen has witnessed sporadic battles since 2004 between government troops and rebels. The government has been accusing the rebels of seeking to re-establish the clerical rule overthrown by the 1962 revolution that created the Yemeni republic.

On Aug. 26, the Yemeni government and Shiite rebels signed an agreement in Doha to cement the February fragile ceasefire, which was aimed to end a six-year sporadic conflict. However, both sides repeatedly trade accusations over breaching the truce which still holds so far.

The government and rebels witnessed a shaky truce since February 2010, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday that there had been an "alarming escalation" in fighting in the region.

Editor: Xiong Tong