SANAA: Yemen's President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi sacked two military chiefs close to his predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, the official SABA news agency reported Friday, citing a presidential decree.
Air force chief General Mohamed Saleh al-Ahmar, Saleh's half brother, and head of the presidential guard General Tarek Mohamed Abdallah Saleh -- his nephew -- were both fired, said the decree.
There had already been calls from within the airforce for Ahmar to go.
Earlier Friday, a suicide bomber blew up a motorbike near intelligence
offices in eastern Yemen, without causing casualties.
That attack came after an aborted attack in the south, when two bombers died as their payload exploded short of their intended target, the defence ministry said.
The attack in the south was claimed by Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen, the self-proclaimed Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law).
The group has exploited a decline in central government control that accompanied Arab Spring-inspired protests that eventually forced president Ali Abdullah Saleh to cede power.
Suicide attacks targetting security forces have intensified since his successor, Hadi, took office in February, vowing to continue the US-backed fight against Al-Qaeda.
But critics of Saleh say he has been interfering in the smooth transition of power, and the reorganisation of the army is seen as being a key part of that transition. (AFP)
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