Sana'a: Snipers and shelling killed at least five people in the Yemeni capital yesterday, violating a ceasefire agreed a day earlier to prevent a spiral into civil war over President Ali Abdullah Saleh's refusal to quit power after months of popular protests.
Four people were killed by snipers in two separate incidents near "Change Square" where protesters have camped for eight months demanding an end to Saleh's 33-year rule. A fifth died when a mortar shell struck the camp itself.
The killings raised the death toll to 75 in four days of bloodshed that shattered a prolonged, uneasy stalemate that set in place during fitful mediation efforts to defuse the crisis.
"I was sitting in my tent when all of a sudden there was a blast through the tent and I looked down and my leg was bleeding," said Tarek, 18, who was injured in the shelling. He said he had counted four or five shells.
Division
The two sides had effectively divided Sana'a between themselves since the unrest began but protesters losing patience after months of political deadlock tipped the uneasy balance of power on Sunday by marching into territory controlled by pro-Saleh troops. They were met with heavy gunfire.
Twenty-six protesters were killed, the worst bout of bloodshed since March, and it touched off heavy fighting between government troops and forces loyal to a top general who defected from Saleh earlier and threw his weight behind the protesters.
Tens of thousands laid out prayer mats on a main road in Sana'a yesterday to mourn the dead, whose bodies were carried through the crowd.
"Shame on you if you don't avenge the blood of the martyrs ... The blood of our brothers will not be spilled in vain!" one speaker at the funeral said over a megaphone.
A military showdown in Sana'a that could further destabilise the country has long been the worst nightmare of diplomats.
