Tuesday, 02 August 2011
An opposition follower aims his weapon as he stands guard on a street during clashes with security forces in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz. (File Photo)
Two tribesmen and two Yemeni soldiers were killed in fierce clashes near the strife-torn country second city of Taez, witnesses and the state news agency Saba said, as government airstrikes killed at least 15 suspected Al Qaeda-linked militants in southern Yemen.
Witnesses said three tribesmen were also wounded, while Saba said four soldiers were among the army's wounded evacuated by helicopter.
The fighting broke out early on Monday in a suburb north of Taez that links the city of four million residents to the tribal areas around it, said the witnesses.
Witnesses said three tribesmen were also wounded, while Saba said four soldiers were among the army's wounded evacuated by helicopter.
The fighting broke out early on Monday in a suburb north of Taez that links the city of four million residents to the tribal areas around it, said the witnesses.
The tribesmen destroyed an army tank and took control of another as fighter jets overflew the area, they said.
Last week, a brief ceasefire between pro-opposition armed tribesmen and security forces had collapsed on Thursday when clashes resumed, leaving one policeman dead.
Tribesmen, who say their aim is to safeguard protesters who demand President Ali Abdullah Saleh stand down, have battled loyalist security forces for the past two months.
President Saleh, 69, who has been in power since 1978, has been receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia since early June for wounds sustained in a bomb blast at his palace.
Protesters have since January been calling for Mr. Saleh to quit office.
In a statement on Sunday, Mr. Saleh reiterated his appeal for dialogue in a statement for Yemenis on the beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
“There is no alternative to dialogue. This is the only way civilized people follow to achieve change and reform,” he said in the message carried by state news agency Saba.
He urged all political forces in Yemen to abandon violence in the hope that Ramadan will return peace and stability to the country.
Mr. Saleh’s opponents have been calling for him to be prevented from returning to power.
On Saturday, influential Yemeni tribal leaders announced the creation of what they have named the “Alliance of Yemeni Tribes,” a coalition to bolster six months of anti-Saleh protests.
In separate violence, a medical official said two people were killed in Arhab, north of the capital, Sana’a, also because of shelling by government troops, The Associated Press reported.
Anti-government tribes in the mountainous Arhab region north of the airport have been battling Yemen’s army for months. The tribes, which have long complained of neglect, say Republican Guard forces are shelling and bombing their villages, killing civilians.
Government airstrikes, meanwhile, killed at least 15 suspected Al Qaeda-linked militants in southern Yemen on Monday, military official said, according to AP.
The strikes also destroyed a tank that militants had seized and several artillery positions in the Dufas area near Zinjibar, one of several southern towns that the fighters have overrun during the months of political turmoil in the country. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with army rules.
The airstrikes were the latest in a government campaign to try to dislodge Al Qaeda-linked militants from Zinjibar and the nearby town of Jaar.
A deteriorating security situation has spread across the impoverished, heavily armed country since the popular uprising against longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh began six months ago. Yemen is home an active Al Qaeda branch, and the United States fears the country’s unrest could give the militants more room to plot attacks on the West.
Emboldened by the turmoil, the militants have been seeking to capture and hold territory in Yemen’s nearly lawless south.
(Abeer Tayel, Co-Managing Editor of Al Arabiya English, can be reached at: abeer.tayel@mbc.net)
Last week, a brief ceasefire between pro-opposition armed tribesmen and security forces had collapsed on Thursday when clashes resumed, leaving one policeman dead.
Tribesmen, who say their aim is to safeguard protesters who demand President Ali Abdullah Saleh stand down, have battled loyalist security forces for the past two months.
President Saleh, 69, who has been in power since 1978, has been receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia since early June for wounds sustained in a bomb blast at his palace.
Protesters have since January been calling for Mr. Saleh to quit office.
In a statement on Sunday, Mr. Saleh reiterated his appeal for dialogue in a statement for Yemenis on the beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
“There is no alternative to dialogue. This is the only way civilized people follow to achieve change and reform,” he said in the message carried by state news agency Saba.
He urged all political forces in Yemen to abandon violence in the hope that Ramadan will return peace and stability to the country.
Mr. Saleh’s opponents have been calling for him to be prevented from returning to power.
On Saturday, influential Yemeni tribal leaders announced the creation of what they have named the “Alliance of Yemeni Tribes,” a coalition to bolster six months of anti-Saleh protests.
In separate violence, a medical official said two people were killed in Arhab, north of the capital, Sana’a, also because of shelling by government troops, The Associated Press reported.
Anti-government tribes in the mountainous Arhab region north of the airport have been battling Yemen’s army for months. The tribes, which have long complained of neglect, say Republican Guard forces are shelling and bombing their villages, killing civilians.
Government airstrikes, meanwhile, killed at least 15 suspected Al Qaeda-linked militants in southern Yemen on Monday, military official said, according to AP.
The strikes also destroyed a tank that militants had seized and several artillery positions in the Dufas area near Zinjibar, one of several southern towns that the fighters have overrun during the months of political turmoil in the country. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with army rules.
The airstrikes were the latest in a government campaign to try to dislodge Al Qaeda-linked militants from Zinjibar and the nearby town of Jaar.
A deteriorating security situation has spread across the impoverished, heavily armed country since the popular uprising against longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh began six months ago. Yemen is home an active Al Qaeda branch, and the United States fears the country’s unrest could give the militants more room to plot attacks on the West.
Emboldened by the turmoil, the militants have been seeking to capture and hold territory in Yemen’s nearly lawless south.
(Abeer Tayel, Co-Managing Editor of Al Arabiya English, can be reached at: abeer.tayel@mbc.net)
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