41 Killed as Chaos Again Erupts in Yemen

Signs Saleh loyalists are splintering
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 1, 2011 7:36 AM CDT
Yemen Again Descends Into Chaos, 41 Dead
Yemeni doctors treat an injured tribesman loyal to Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, the head of the powerful Hashid tribe, who was wounded in clashes with Yemeni security forces, in Sanaa, Tuesday, May 31, 2011.   (AP Photo/Hani Mohammedi)

Firefights again reigned in the streets of Sanaa today, killing at least 41, and a fractured Republican Guard shelled the headquarters of an army brigade commander who was rumored to be defecting to the opposition. Opposition leaders deny that Brigadier-General Mohammed Khalil has defected, but tell the AP that he had angered President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Saleh's grip on the capital is slipping, notes the LA Times, and is largely confined to the south of Sanaa, where the presidential palace is located. But the battles were largely concentrated in the north, where Saleh's forces battled troops loyal to the leader of Saleh's tribe. "This morning was the most intense fighting we've seen yet," says one local resident holding an AK-47. "If I leave I will have no home to come back to. They will destroy everything." (More Yemen protests stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X