Fierce clashes erupted in Yemen’s second city Taez overnight between troops and tribesmen siding with protesters who are demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s ouster, tribal sources said Tuesday. Tribal gunmen attacked a checkpoint set up by the Republican Guard on Siteen Street in northern Taez, a focal point of the protest movement against Saleh, the sources said.
The elite troops, led by Saleh’s son Ahmed, retaliated with heavy shelling of villages in Al-Humayra, north of Taez, the sources said, adding no casualties were reported. Taez has been the scene for sporadic clashes between government troops and forces deployed since June by influential tribal leaders to protect pro-democracy protesters from attacks by Saleh loyalists.
