Sana'a, Sep 12 (IANS): Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi Tuesday sacked heads of the national security agency and military intelligence, after two suicide car bombs targeted the country's defence minister in the capital and killed at least 12 people, Xinhua reported.

President Hadi dismissed the head of the National Security Agency, Ali Mohammed al-Anisi, and the head of Military Intelligence, Mujahid Ali Ghuthaim. According to a presidential decree, the move was included in a partial cabinet reshuffle, reported the Saba news agency.

In the cabinet reshuffle, the president appointed Hisham Sharaf Abdullah as Minister for Higher Education and Research, and Ahmed Abdullah Daris as Minister for the Oil and Mineral Resources. He also named new governors of the provinces of Sanaa, Amran, Shabwa, al-Jouf and al-Bayda.

The reshuffle came few hours after two suicide car bombs hit the motorcade of the defence minister in front of Prime Minister's office in Sana'a. Though the minister survived the attack but 12 others, including seven of his bodyguards, were killed.

The terrorist attack was the fourth of its kind in less than three months by the militants of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) after the minister was targeted twice in the southern port city of Aden and once in the southern province of Abyan.