Blast kills 9 in Yemen, including 5 soldiers

An explosion on Wednesday ripped through a Yemeni military vehicle in the south, killing five soldiers, while another four civilians died in the ensuing firefight.

The blast hit the vehicle close to a busy market selling qat, the mildly stimulating leaf that Yemenis addictively chew in a province known as a stronghold for the local branch of the al-Qaeda militant group. (AP)