Fighting Intensifies in Yemen\u2019s Capital
\nMohammed Huwais\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/p>\n
An injured Yemeni was carried into a hospital in Sanaa on Tuesday.
\nBy J. DAVID GOODMAN and ROBERT F. WORTH
\nPublished: May 24, 2011<\/p>\n
A day after Yemen\u2019s political stalemate flared into violence, fighting intensified Tuesday in the heart of the capital, Sana, as hundreds of opposition tribesmen and forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh exchanged gun and artillery fire, witnesses said.<\/p>\n
Yemeni medical and security officials put the death toll at 38 in Tuesday\u2019s fighting, The Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n
The second day of battles began shortly after noon Tuesday as mediation efforts between tribal leaders and government representatives at the home of Sadeq al-Ahmar, the titular leader of Yemen\u2019s most powerful tribal confederation, appeared to break down, said a person present for the talks.<\/p>\n
Shells fired by government forces exploded near the Ahmar compound, which is near several key government ministries and the ruling party\u2019s headquarters. At the Interior Ministry, less than a mile away, tribal fighters fired heavy artillery of their own.<\/p>\n
Opposition tribesmen appeared to expand the area of fighting on Tuesday, taking control of at least one of the nearby ministries, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in a battle with security forces on Tuesday. Their numbers also appeared to be swelling: an employee of the Ahmar family, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media, said that more tribesmen from just north of the capital had traveled to Sana overnight to show their support for the Ahmar family. Nearly 1,000 tribal fighters were involved in the battle with security forces on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The second day of pitched street battles extended clashes that have become the deadliest since the start of street protests in January, and followed the collapse over the weekend of the latest round of negotiations aimed at ushering Mr. Saleh from power. ...more<\/a><\/p>\n