Troops clash in Yemen's capital
Source: Agencies |
November 26, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HEAVY fighting between government forces and defecting troops shook the Yemeni capital yesterday, killing two people in what could signal the start of a power struggle just days after autocratic President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to end his 33-year rule.
The clashes pitted Central Security forces commanded by Saleh's nephew, Colonel Yehia Saleh, against troops from the First Armored Division, headed by General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who defected and joined the protesters in March. Troops used machine guns and mortars, some of which hit homes.
A security official said a soldier on each side was killed before the fighting stopped around dawn.
The two units have clashed in the past, but yesterday's fighting, near the home of Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was the first showdown between military units since Saleh signed a US-backed proposal in the Saudi capital Riyadh, under which he transferred power to his vice president, who will serve as acting president until presidential elections within 90 days.
If the deal holds, Saleh would be the fourth ruler pushed from power this year by the Arab Spring uprisings.
But Saleh's spokesman, Ahmed al-Soufi, added further confusion to what exactly the agreement seeking to end the country's nine-month political crisis means, saying yesterday that Saleh has not given up his "constitutional duties" and remains in power.
Yesterday, tens of thousands of Yemenis returned to the streets across the country to reject the power-transfer deal and call for Saleh's trial for crimes ranging from corruption to lethal crackdowns on protests.
The clashes pitted Central Security forces commanded by Saleh's nephew, Colonel Yehia Saleh, against troops from the First Armored Division, headed by General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who defected and joined the protesters in March. Troops used machine guns and mortars, some of which hit homes.
A security official said a soldier on each side was killed before the fighting stopped around dawn.
The two units have clashed in the past, but yesterday's fighting, near the home of Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was the first showdown between military units since Saleh signed a US-backed proposal in the Saudi capital Riyadh, under which he transferred power to his vice president, who will serve as acting president until presidential elections within 90 days.
If the deal holds, Saleh would be the fourth ruler pushed from power this year by the Arab Spring uprisings.
But Saleh's spokesman, Ahmed al-Soufi, added further confusion to what exactly the agreement seeking to end the country's nine-month political crisis means, saying yesterday that Saleh has not given up his "constitutional duties" and remains in power.
Yesterday, tens of thousands of Yemenis returned to the streets across the country to reject the power-transfer deal and call for Saleh's trial for crimes ranging from corruption to lethal crackdowns on protests.
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