Clashes rocked the Yemeni capital yesterday after at least 40 people were killed in 24 hours despite calls by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh for peace after his return from months of medical treatment in Riyadh.
“We slept and woke up to the non-stop sound of gunfire,” one Sana’a resident said, as firefights between rival military units raged in the city center.
Republican Guard troops, commanded by Saleh’s son Ahmed, have been locked in a week of deadly battles with dissident soldiers from the First Armored Brigade headed by General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who have since March protected anti-regime protesters camped out in the capital’s Change Square.
Security forces have also been fighting supporters of dissident tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar in the capital’s northern al-Hasaba District.
The fighting has caused 132 deaths since Sunday last week, based on a tally obtained from medics and tribal and opposition sources. State news agency Saba said 24 of Saleh’s soldiers have also been killed.
Troops loyal to Saleh killed at least 17 people in an attack launched just after midnight on Friday, shelling and firing on Change Square that protesters first occupied in February.
“Seventeen people were killed and 55 others were wounded,” said Mohammed al-Qabati, a medic at the field hospital in the square.
Among the dead were dissident soldiers, while the rest were civilians, Qabati said without providing specific figures.
Snipers also opened fire from buildings around the square, witnesses said.
Tens of thousands of people remained camped in the square even after Republican Guard troops burned down several of their tents, witnesses said.
In the north of the city, fighting continued between Saleh’s troops and Ahmar supporters in al-Hasaba, residents said, reporting the sound of automatic weapons fire and explosions.
Saleh returned to Yemen on Friday, preaching peace, after a three-month absence in Saudi Arabia, where he was treated for wounds sustained in an attack on his palace on June 3.
Tens of thousands of his supporters gathered in the capital’s Sabiin Square on Friday near his palace to celebrate his return at the main weekly Muslim prayers.
The coffins of 24 pro-Saleh soldiers were lined up in the square, Saba reported.
“I have returned home carrying the dove of peace and an olive branch, not holding any grudges or hatred towards anyone,” the news agency quoted Saleh as saying.
He called on all Yemenis to “overcome their pain and wounds for the sake of the nation and its dignity.”
However, in the north of Sana’a, tens of thousands of Saleh opponents attended a mass funeral of 40 people killed in the most recent clashes and vowed to bring him to trial.
“The people want to bring the slaughterer to justice,” they chanted.
“We thank Saudi Arabia for returning Ali to us so we can bring him to trial inside the country,” activist Mohammed al-Asal said.
A spokesman for the ruling General People’s Congress party, Tariq al-Shami, said “no public appearance or political activity” had been scheduled for Saleh so far.
The state news agency said the president was to make “an important speech to mark the 49th anniversary” of the Sept. 26, 1962, revolution that saw Yemen proclaimed a republic.
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