Three people were killed and 21 others injured after a man had detonated a hand grenade at a qat chewing session in northern Yemen.

Ali Hassan Said detonated the grenade in the house of a sheikh, apparently one of his relatives, killing three including the sheikh and leaving 21 chewers wounded, six fatally.

Local sources in Amran Province were quoted by the Alsahwa website as saying the attacker had been threatening to eliminate these people and then join the Houthi Group, which fought the government for six years in the far north.

He experienced domestic disturbances before the incident, the sources said, adding: "we can't rule out he had direct links with Houthis."

He ran away and the authorities did not take immediate action, they said.