SANAA: Tribesmen loyal to a powerful opposition chief have seized public buildings including state news agency Saba, sources said Wednesday, amid raging gun battles with Yemen’s security forces that have killed 44 people.
The tribesmen have also occupied the national airline Yemenia building and have tried to storm the interior ministry headquarters, according to the witnesses and a high-ranking Yemen official.
Clashes between security forces and followers of Sheikh Sadiq Al-Ahmar, who heads the powerful Hashid tribal federation, broke out in Sanaa on Monday after President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign a deal with the opposition that would see him leave office within 30 days.
The tribesmen occupied public buildings, including the trade and industry ministry the day after the president explicitly warned of civil war in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country.
Fighting raged through much of Monday and Tuesday and resumed on Wednesday morning after a brief lull, an AFP correspondent said.
According to an AFP tally based on reports by medics, the government and tribesmen, at least 44 people have been killed in the fighting.
Ahmar has accused Saleh of trying to spark a civil war in an attempt to remain in power.
Late Tuesday, a missile slammed into Ahmar’s home causing casualties, a tribal source said.
"The home of Sheikh Sadiq Al-Ahmar was hit by a missile and there were several dead or wounded," the source said.
"Among the wounded was General Ghaleb Gamash, who was leading a mediation mission."
The Yemen official warned, meanwhile, that the violence will escalate if the tribesmen don’t evacuate the public buildings, which are located in or near the Al-Hasaba neighborhood where Ahmar lives.
"Sheikh Al-Ahmar’s men are required to withdraw from the buildings under their control," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Otherwise, we will force them to do so."
A Saba journalist said that tribesman had taken over state news agency’s headquarters during the night.
"Armed men stormed the Saba headquarters during the night and demanded that we leave," the journalist told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Access to Al-Hasaba has been cut by cement blocks and burning tyres placed in the streets.
Ahmar in March pledged his support for the opposition, which since January, supported by widespread street protests inspired by popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, has been demanding Saleh’s ouster.
"I announce in the name of all the members of my tribe that I am joining the revolution," Ahmar said, calling on Saleh "to exempt Yemen from the bloodshed and make a quiet exit."
Yemen’s wealthy Gulf neighbours on Tuesday demanded an immediate halt to the bloody clashes between regime supporters and Ahmar’s clansmen.
"The fighting in Sanaa during the past two days is a source of concern for the GCC who fear that it may spread," said Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Abdullatif Al-Zayani.
Zayani, who has been promoting a GCC plan that would see Saleh handing over power, urged the rival camps to show restraint.
Sources close to Ahmar said the fighting had broken out on Monday after security forces tried to deploy around his residence and his gunmen retaliated.
A Yemen security official however said the gunmen broke into a nearby school and police responded.
The conflicting accounts could not be independently verified.
One of the 10 sons of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ahmar, who was until his death Saleh’s main ally, Ahmar is capable of rallying thousands of armed supporters, tribal sources say.
Yemen has an estimated 60 million firearms in private hands, roughly three for every citizen.
The country’s opposition has vowed on Monday to step up street protests, while insisting on efforts to avoid violence.
