Fighting in Sanaa

"LandepNews"

Fighting in Sanaa

Explosions and gunfire could be heard in the capital of Yemen, Sanaa, as the tribal rebels engaged in battle with the troops loyal to the president Ali Abdullah Saleh, in the most brutal breach of the ceasefire in this country. The automatic guns and artillery were heard in a neighborhood where a very popular tribal leader lives, in the Hasaba district, where fighting went on for weeks in May, when the riot began and was one step close to the civil war.

The fighting started after midnight and lasted in the morning, when it is said that a Saudi mediator intervened to stop the conflict. According to an official, three people were killed and five wounded.

Most of the people that were killed were at a marketplace and in a nearby building that was severely damaged during the fights.

Ali Abdullah Saleh is recovering in a hospital in Saudi Arabia after he was wounded in an assassination attempt in June. He pledged to return to Yemen, though the international community presses his to stand down and let the nation follow the path of democracy.

There is a fear that if the unrest continues it could cause the Yemeni Al-Qaeda branch to stage attacks in the country and beyond.

Reports say that in Taiz, 120 miles south of Sanaa, dozens of protestors were wounded by the security forces who used live bullets and tear gas as they were demanding the resignation of Saleh.

In the city of Aden two explosions hit the intelligence HQ and a police base earlier on Thursday without causing much damage.

The region of Zinjibar was bombarded by the aviation after the al-Qaeda operatives and the anti-governmental protestor set up barricades against the governmental troops.

Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, having a very powerful secessionist movement both to north and to south, and a serious al-Qaeda local base.

Saleh has promised on various occasions that he would step down and organize elections, but no one in the country believes him anymore. He is expected not to return to the country after the recuperation is over.

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