Clash in Yemeni capital claims several lives

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh

Clash in Yemeni capital claims several lives

Sanaa, the capital city of Yemen is experiencing a heavy fight between troops loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and forces opposed to his rule.

According to reports, the fight began shortly after midnight on Monday and intensified into the early hours of the morning, with the sound of explosions rocking many parts of the city.

Casualty

So far there were no overall casualty figures immediately available, but at least three people were killed in a central encampment housing tens of thousands of protesters.
Medical officials also said six people were wounded when a shell hit their house in an area in the northern part of the capital.

A resident in Sanaa told newsmen that "It is a very volatile situation; many of the streets of Sanaa are empty this morning".

Although the fighting died down when the call for the Muslim dawn prayer rang out from the city's mosques, it resumed a short time after the prayers.

According to reports, Pro-Saleh forces have frequently fought with rival tribesmen and renegade troops of the 1st Armoured Division in Sanaa, but Monday's fighting was the most intense in weeks, with the pro-regime forces shelling their rivals' positions from the hills outside the city.

The fight

On Sunday at least five protesters and seven pro-revolution soldiers were killed during a demonstration in the Yemeni capital by troops loyal to Saleh.

Sunday's violence erupted when hundreds of thousands of protesters marched on Al-Zubeiri Street which marks the dividing line between parts of Sanaa held by troops loyal to Saleh and those held by dissident units under the command of General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who rallied to the opposition in March.

Reports say the protesters were hit by sniper fire and shrapnel from rocket-propelled grenades. 

On Saturday, troops fatally shot at least 17 people marching in Sanaa.

"We will continue with our protests ... even if thousands of our youth are killed. This is the only way to ensure the fall of the regime," Walid al-Ammari, a spokesman for the protesters, told newsmen.

A letter from Yemen's youth movement to the United Nations earlier this month reveals that at least 861 people have been killed and more than 25,000 wounded since mass protests against Saleh's rule began earlier in the year.

However, the ongoing clashes have stalled a Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) initiative that would lead to Saleh stepping down and handing over all constitutional authorities to his deputy.

Immunity for Saleh

Under the plan, Saleh and his family were to be granted immunity from prosecution.

Reports say Saleh has promised several times in the past to abide by the initiative, but has so far failed to do so.

He further called for a truce and new negotiations on his return to Sanaa after three months in Saudi Arabia where he recovered from a June 3 attack on his presidential compound.

The president has faced protests since January over nepotism and corruption from reform activists inspired by the Arab Spring.

Aljazeera/ Adekusibe/Ekata