Forces loyal to president battle 1st Armored Division, which sided with opposition protesters, killing 11 and wounding 100
Troops loyal to the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, have killed at least 11 soldiers and wounded more than 100 in a major assault on a rebel division that supported pro-democracy demonstrators. The deaths come after 16 protesters were killed on Friday night.
The headquarters of the renegade 1st Armored Division in the capital Sana'a came under mortar fire a day after Saleh's sudden return to the country on Friday, which prompted fears of all-out civil war.
Pro-opposition officer Abdel-Ghani al-Shimiri said at least 11 pro-opposition solders have been killed and 112 wounded.
There have been street battles and exchanges of shelling all week between Republican Guards led by Saleh's son and the rebel division led by Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar.
Al-Shimiri said government forces are also attempting to clear the pro-democracy camp on Change Square, where 16 people were killed in an assault that broke out last night amid mortar shelling and sniper fire.
Those killed included 15 civilians and one soldier who had joined the opposition movement, according to a doctor at the scene. Another 54 people were wounded in the attack on the tented shantytown, said medic Mohammed al-Qabatis.
Protesters distributed plastic helmets in a desperate effort to protect themselves from the bullets of pro-government snipers prowling the rooftops of nearby houses.
The opposition camp has been the focal point of Yemen's anti-government uprising and daily protests to demand Saleh's removal from power.
The abrupt reappearance of Saleh, who has spent the past three months recovering in Saudi Arabia from an assassination attempt, has plunged into confusion tentative hopes for a way out of Yemen's political crisis.
More than 100 protesters have been shot dead in the past week, some by government troops using anti-aircraft guns.
Although Saleh called for a truce between the two sides after his return on Friday, it is not clear whether his message will be heeded.
The president's arrival came as a shock, with western diplomats in Sana'a and even members of his ruling party seemingly caught unawares.
Many fear that Saleh's sudden reappearance may draw Yemen's powerful tribal leaders into the fray. When Saleh was airlifted to Saudi Arabia for treatment after an explosion at his compound in June, Sadeq Al-Ahmar, the sheikh at the head of Yemen's most influential tribe, the Hashed, swore "by God" that he would never let Saleh rule again.
The last time hostilities between the Saleh and Ahmar families turned violent in May, a week's worth of mortar battles erupted, flattening an entire neighbourhood in east Sana'a and killing hundreds.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/24/yemen-clashes-leave-16-dead
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