Sanaa, Sept 22 : Yemeni government forces on Wednesday fired mortars at tens of thousands of mourners at funerals held for protesters killed in clashes and attacked an opposition base, shattering a cease-fire negotiated a day earlier to end the Arab nation's latest bout of deadly violence. The two attacks killed 16 people.
The mourners were gathered for funeral prayers for anti-government protesters killed in a deadly, three-day government crackdown in which the death toll topped 80 a sudden spike in violence explained by protesters' impatience with their longtime president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who they say is dragging his feet instead of signing a deal to step down. Nine people were killed.
Also in Sanaa, the headquarters of the renegade 1st Armored Division came under heavy shelling from government forces killing seven, including two civilians, and injuring 10 others.
The officials said the shelling targeted a part of Change Square, where protesters have camped out since February to demand the ouster of Saleh, in power since 1978. Snipers on rooftops hunted down protesters in Sanaa main road of al-Zubairi, according to Tarek Noamani, a doctor at the square field hospital.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. The 1st Armored Division, one of Yemen's most combat tested military outfits, mutinied in March to join the opposition. It is led by Saleh's one-time confidant and war veteran Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar. The targeting of the division's headquarters is the latest indication that the fight over control of the Yemeni capital will primarily pit the rebel unit against the elite Republican Guards, led by Ali's son and one-time heir apparent Ahmed. (AP)
