Yemen: 18 killed in clashes in Sanaa

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Yemen: 18 killed in clashes in Sanaa

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Clashes between security forces and dissident tribesmen killed 18 people in north of Yemeni capital.

24 September,2011 04:38 am

Fierce clashes between security forces loyal to newly returned Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and dissident tribesmen killed 18 people in the north of the capital on Friday, the opposition said.Eighteen people were killed and 56 wounded in the fighting in the north Sanaa district of Al-Hasaba, said Al-Sahwa.net, the news website of Yemens Islamist main opposition party, Al-Islah (Reform) which is headed by influential businessman Hamid al-Ahmar.The armed tribesmen fighting Salehs security forces were loyalists of dissident tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, Hamids brother.The exchanges intensified late on Friday and explosions were heard across the neighbourhood, residents said.The shelling was coming from the interior ministry building and the Ahmar family compound, the residents said.The fighting raged in Sanaa for a sixth straight day despite truce calls from Saleh on his return from a three-month stay in neighbouring Saudi Arabia for treatment for wounds sustained in a June 3 bomb attack on his palace.As the fighting raged, state television broadcast appeals from the under-fire interior ministry for Saleh loyalists to refrain from marking his return with celebratory gunfire.Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar heads the powerful Hashid tribal confederation, which in March ended its support for Saleh -- also a Hashid member -- and joined protests demanding his ouster.The tribes wield huge influence in impoverished Yemen and the Hashid confederation alone is capable of rallying and financing thousands of heavily armed fighters.