Fresh clashes in Sana'a breach truce and threaten peace deal

Sana'a: Warring factions in Yemen resumed fighting in the early hours of yesterday in the capital Sana'a, putting stumbling blocks to the implementation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) peace plan.

Clashes broke out on Monday between the government forces and armed men loyal to the influential tribal figure Sadeq Al Ahmar, local sources said. Both sides accused each other of breaching a truce imposed by Yemen's Vice-President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. But no casualties were reported in the clashes.

Earlier, the government said that Al Ahmar's men continued to breach a ceasefire by opening fire on the buildings of the ministry of interior and police headquarters in the capital. A woman was injured, according to the government's statement.

The government-run Saba agency published on Monday the names of 100 soldiers, said to be loyal to defected General Ali Mohsin Al Ahmar, the commander from the First Armoured Brigade. The agency said that General Al Ahmar sent them to wreck havoc and seize control of the city of Taez. The Yemen Socialist party said gunmen fired on the party's headquarters in the capital. No one was hurt in the attack.

Anti-regime protests

In the city of Taez, the hotbed of anti-regime protests, a witness told Gulf News that government forces withdrew from the streets after four days of unabated battles with local armed men that left more than 20 dead.

"Government troops began pulling out when they learnt that a EU-fact finding team would pay a visit to the city. They even removed the damaged tanks." The witness said. Local medics said on Monday night that a shell hit a bus, killing at least a passenger and injuring many others. The interim unity government of Yemen's prime minister-designate, Mohammad Basindwa, will be announced within days, Huryia Mashhour, an opposition spokeswoman told Gulf News. "As for the opposition, we handed over the names of our prospective ministers to Basindwa."

Meanwhile, anti-regime protesters rallied yesterday across the country to condemn the killing of civilians in Taez.