SANAA • The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group claimed an attack on two Houthi rebel leaders in Sanaa on Monday night that medics said killed at least 28 people, including eight women.

The car bomb targeted Houthi rebel chief brothers Faycal and Hamid Jayache during a gathering to mourn the death of a family member, a security source said.

Houthi rebels closed down the surrounding area in the city centre after the attack, letting through only emergency services to help evacuate the victims, witnesses said.

The explosion blew a crater in the road, took chunks out of nearby walls and left debris strewn across the street.

In a statement posted online, ISIS said it had organised the attack on what it called a "Shi'ite nest" in the Yemeni capital. The extremist Sunni militant group considers Shi'ites as heretics and has frequently targeted them in attacks in several countries.

In one of the latest attacks, a suicide bombing by a Saudi national last Friday in a Shi'ite mosque in Kuwait killed 26 people and wounded 227 others. ISIS has also claimed a car bombing on June 20 against a Shi'ite mosque in Sanaa that killed two and wounded 16, and another series of attacks in the Yemeni capital four days earlier that killed 31.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE