A powerful blast struck a bus transporting Yemeni air force personnel to their base in Sanaa on Sunday, killing at least six of them, a security official said.

A bomb planted on the bus exploded while the vehicle was travelling on the road leading to Sanaa international airport, which is adjacent to the base, the official said.

Witnesses said body parts of the dead were blown out of the vehicle.

The Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, the most active franchise of the global jihadist network, has been behind numerous attacks on the country's security forces.