By Mohammed al-Kibsi
No casualties were reported in the confrontations that broke out on Friday night between the security forces and between the tribal militants affiliated to Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar in Al0Hasabah area. However heavy bombardment were heard from al-Hasabah on Friday night shaking the capital.
Some media outlets reported that eight protesters were wounded in clashes with Yemen security forces on Friday near the protesting site.
Nevertheless independent eyewitnesses that live very close from the place “near the health institute’ where the shoot out happened said that no one was injured.
Nasser al-Jalal said that some soldiers from the defected army wanted to make barracks near the health institute but the soldiers from the army loyal to president Saleh did not let them and fired alarming shots up to the air.
The same witness said that the defected soldiers on their part fired up to the air and returned back.
An officer from the fourth brigade that is in charge of guarding the radio station and other government sites close to the protesting site who talked on condition of anonymity affirmed that no casualties happened in the Friday clashes.
“We at the 4th brigade and those defected soldiers are comrades as all of us are part of the First Armor Division so it is impossible to kill or wound each other no matter what,” said the Colonel.
“All we did when they tried to extend their territory was that we fired alarming shots and they fired back”
He said that their comrades tried to sue some of the protesters as human shields and advanced some meters but they failed and retreated back after the alarm shots.
The clashes occurred after the house of al-Ahmar exposed to bombing from several sites belonging to the government forces and that clashes and bombing were stationed in Mazda street. and the neighborhood of al-Thawrah Park near the Interior Ministry and continued for hours, witnesses told Yemen Observer that several shells shocked al-Hasaba area and scared women and children, witnesses told Yemen Observer.
The shells came from forces stationed in front of the Interior Ministry, followed by sporadic clashes that targeted al-Ahmars’ supporters.
Two civilians were killed and several others were injured, one in a critical condition. Among the killed was the owner of Dubai grocery store that located in al-Rawni market next to Mazda Street.
Local residents in al-Hasabah and neighboring areas heard explosions and violent clashes which used artillery and machine guns. The clashes spread to the vicinity of the Ministry of Local Administration, and explosion rocked the street of Marib near Mazda Street and other explosion hit al-Rawni market, said eye witnesses. According to the sources.
Witnesses said that they heard heavy gunfire in the street Amran and near thirty street and neighborhood of change Square.
The area of Shamlan has witnessed violent clashes between forces loyal to the regime, and the pro-revolution First Armored Division’s, which was subjected to intense artillery bombardment, where the clashes spread to the street sixty and al-Sunaiynah area.
Many residents in the capital Sana’a expressed their fears and concerns of potential military explosion of the crisis in the capital, especially after Wednesday night of clashes. Earlier to this, tensions escalated between the security forces and republican guards loyal to president Saleh in one hand and between the defected army and tribesmen affiliated to Sheikh al-Ahmar in Sana’a the capital of Yemen on Sunday September 11.
A passerby was killed and two others were wounded in clashes broke out between the security force s and militants affiliated to Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar and his brothers in al-Hasaba zone in Sana’a on Sunday, said eyewitnesses. The killed person is called Zaid Hussien al-Damimi. The three victims were hit while passing the main street near the ministry of interior.
The sources said that the security forces deployed tens of policemen on the streets surrounding al-Hasaba zone where al-Ahmar house is located and closes some of the streets following the incident.
The clashes broke out hours before the meeting of the GCC foreign ministers to be held in Saudi port of Jeddah to discuss the growing political uncertainty in Yemen and the prospects for a GCC plan for ending the deadlock.
Meanwhile AFP reported that Dissident troops loyal to a Yemeni general who defected to join anti-government protesters have accused the elite Republican Guard of shelling one of their positions in the capital, an officer said.
A dissident officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Sunday that the artillery fire was aimed at raising tensions ahead of a meeting later on Sunday of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the Saudi port city of Jeddah.
«They fired four tank shells at one of our positions,» on a main Sanaa boulevard, the officer from the First Armoured Division loyal to dissident General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar told AFP.
«They want to escalate tensions in the capital before the meeting,» the officer added.
There were no immediate reports of casualties. The stalemate has led to mounting fears of an all out military confrontation between the Republican Guards, who are under commanded by Saleh’s eldest son, Ahmed, and Ahmar’s dissident troops.
Last week, the Guards reinforced their presence in the capital, deploying tanks and missile launchers on the hills overlooking it. At the same time, Ahmar’s First Armoured Brigade troops, who are fewer in number and less well-armed, fortified their positions in dissident-held areas of the capital, primarily around University Square where protesters have been camping for months. Armed civilians have also been seen on both sides of Zubair Street, the dividing line between the areas controlled by government forces and those held by the opposition.
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