Sana’a - Suicide bombers on Friday targeted two mosques in the Yemeni capital held by the Shi’a rebel Houthis, killing themselves and 137 others, a pro-Houthi television reported.
Al-Masirah TV station said four bombers blew themselves up in apparently synchronized attacks in the mosque of Badr in central Sana'a and the mosque of al-Hashoosh in the southern part of the capital.
Prominent Houthi cleric Murtada al-Mahturi was among the dead.
Some 345 were wounded in the attacks, which occurred during the congregational noon prayers, according to the broadcaster.
The figures could not be independently verified.
Online footage showed bodies, including those of children, scattered at the sites.
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the assaults in Sana'a and a fifth suicide attack also mounted Friday in the Houthis' far northern stronghold of Saada.
The group said in an online statement, which could not be authenticated, that the five attacks had left at least 80 Houthis dead.
The purported statement warned that the attacks would be the “start to finish off” the Houthis in Yemen.
Should the claim be verified, these would be the first attacks carried out by the radical Sunni group in Yemen, home to an active al-Qaeda offshoot.
Extremist Sunnis regard Shi’a as heretics.
Sunni al-Qaeda operatives have in recent months mounted deadly attacks on the Houthis, who control significant parts of Yemen. Although al-Qaeda and Islamic State have similar origins, the two groups are not allies.
Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, has been wracked by a deepening political crisis since September when the Houthis overran Sana'a.
In recent months, the Houthis have been locked in an escalating power struggle with internationally recognized President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi.
Warplanes, believed loyal to the Houthis, bombed a compound used by Hadi in the southern city of Aden for the second consecutive day Friday, local officials said. They reported no casualties.
Hadi was taken to a safe location on Thursday, the officials said without giving details.
Last month, Hadi fled to Aden from house arrest imposed on him by the Houthis in Sana'a. He has been re-establishing his authority in Aden.
Sapa-dpa