Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Yemen ... all out war?


Sound of the fighting in Sana'a early this Tuesday morning.

The truce that existed between the Hashed tribes of sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar and the government forces of president Ali Abdallah Saleh broke down Tuesday nmorning and consequently Sana'a is again the stage of heavy fighting. Jane Novack (blog Armies of Liberation) reports: 
All international calls from cell phones are blocked. Cutting the phones is standard procedure for the Saleh regime; the tactic was used in years past during the Saada War and in Dhalie, (and during the civil war of 1994, TP). The electricity is off in broad sections of Sanaa and Yemen is further interrupting communications. And there’s sounds of gunfire and bombing throughout the capital. They always attack at night. It was 3 am when they set the tents ablaze in Taiz. The protesters there are still facing live fire when they try to re-enter the square.
All sorts of large explosions are being reported in Sanaa. Armed forces are clashing in various locations including near the presidential palace, Hasaba and various streets. I’m not sure if its many locations or everyone is describing the same area differently. al Masdar gives some locations and says unusually large explosions were heard. Also troops deployed from Ibb heading toward Taiz. Five days of truce ended when the al Ahmar compound was attacked again. The concern is the butcher will send his forces to Change Square to massacre the protesters, like he did in Taiz yesterday.

 Apart from fighting in Sana'a serious clashes are also reported from Zinjibar in the Abyan governorate, where Saleh withdrew.half of the government forces on Saturday in order to allow islamists and Al-Qaeda focres to take over the town. Fighting between the islamists and remaining government forces seem to take place, while Zinjibar also is repoietd to have been bombarded from the air (some seven times) and from the sea. At least 11 people seem te have been killed, Al-Jazeera Arabic reported.
 In Taiz also chaos reigns, after security troops and thugs opened fire of the protesters camping on Freedom Square and subsequently destroyed the encampments. The number of deaths resulting from this butchery now stands at 57 (some of them burned alive in their tents) and there are some 200 injured. The numbers will rise, however, as at least one of the local hospitals was invaded by the thugs who took away all the wounded and as firing on and around Freedom Squere was still going on on Tuesday.
Apart from these places fighting seems to take place also in Aden, as well as in Dhalie and Radfan and Nehm not far from Sana'a. Details however are scarce. It seems that Saleh got the chaos he promised. It also seems that the only way to get rid of him will be through war.  

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