Sana’a: A shell fired near a Yemeni general’s military headquarters in the capital Sana’a hit a weapons depot and set off a series of explosions on Thursday, a Yemeni army source said.
Gulf | Yemen
Arms depot near Yemen military HQ hit by shell
Probe under way to determine who fired the shell and no casualties reported
- Reuters
- Published: 14:08 October 18, 2012
- Image Credit: Reuters
- Children play near their homes as smoke rises from the First Armoured Division headquarters in Sana’a on Thursday.
A Reuters witness said he heard two blasts and saw a large cloud of dust above the camp, where General Ali Mohsin Al Ahmar is based. Al Ahmar defected during last year’s uprising against Ali Abdullah Saleh and leads part of the army under Saleh’s successor, President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
A source in Al Ahmar’s force, known as the First Division, said a shell fired from outside the camp had landed on an ammunition cache, setting off the explosions.
He said there were no casualties and an investigation was under way to determine who fired the shell.
The Yemeni Defence Ministry said the blasts were caused by an accident in ammunition depots.
Ahmar broke away from the Yemeni army shortly after street protests against Saleh’s 33-year-rule broke out early last year, and said his move was aimed at protecting demonstrators who had set up a protest camp in the centre of the Yemeni capital.
Hadi is trying to reunify the armed forces, which are still partly controlled by relatives of the former president.
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