Four people, including three children, were killed overnight when troops loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh shelled a petrol filling station in a region north of the capital, tribal sources said on Sunday. Thirteen others were wounded in the attack in the Arhab area, some 40 km from Sanaa, where tribesmen have thrown their weight behind protesters demanding an end to Saleh’s 33-year rule.
In the city of Taiz, one civilian was shot dead and two were wounded by government forces who fired at a car. The incident occurred in a district where there have been clashes between government forces and pro-opposition tribesmen. Months of anti-government protests have divided impoverished Yemen, pushing the Arabian Peninsula country to the verge of a civil war and humanitarian crisis.
Neighbouring oil giant Saudi Arabia and the international community fear growing lawlessness in Yemen is giving al Qaeda’s regional wing a golden opportunity to plan and perhaps launch attacks in the region and beyond.