The death toll in Yemeni capital’s suicide bomb attack rose to 96, according to AFP.

A Yemeni soldier dressed in uniform blew himself up in the middle of an army battalion in Sanaa. The suicide attack was the deadliest in the country's capital since newly-elected President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi pledged to oust Al-Qaeda militants from Yemen's mostly lawless and restive southern and eastern provinces.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the blast which according to witnesses was heard across the city, causing panic among residents.

The unidentified bomber detonated his explosives as soldiers from the government's central security forces, commanded by a nephew of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, rehearsed for an army parade to mark the 22nd anniversary of the unification of north and south Yemen, according to the official.

Yemen's Defense Minister, Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, was present at the time of the explosion but escaped unharmed, the official added.

Witnesses said human remains were scattered across the site of the blast at Sanaa's Sabeen Square, where the Yemeni government often holds large military parades.