Sanaa, March 4 (IANS): The Al Qaeda militants launched attacks against the Houthi group in Yemen's al-Bayda province on Tuesday, killing at least 27 Houthi militants and wounding dozens of others.

The Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) attacked a stadium which was used by the Houthi militants as a training camp in al-Bayda city, the provincial capital of al-Bayda province, killing 10 Houthis and injuring dozens of others, Xinhua cited a tribal source as saying.

Hours after the attack, the AQAP launched a suicide car bombing attack on a gathering of the Shia Houthi group in a school in Alzahir district in al-Bayda province in the evening, killing at least eight people and wounding 12 others, a security official said.

Also in Alzahir district, a roadside bomb hit a Houthi patrol vehicle on a road near the school which killed at least nine Houthis.

The AQAP claimed the attacks in an online statement.

The Houthis have cordoned off the school to prevent residents from approaching the area and transferred the victims to hospital.

Security situation in Yemen rapidly worsened after the Shia Houthi group took over the capital Sanaa by force in September. More than 400 people were killed in the week-long fighting.

After overrunning the capital, the Houthi group has been deploying fighters in the country's southern and eastern regions, where AQAP is active.

The move has triggered almost frequent clashes between the Houthis and AQAP militants in provinces of al-Bayda, Marib, Ibb and Hadramout, leaving dozens dead from both sides.