Yemen gunbattles erupt after Saleh refuses exit

reply to post by Skerrako

The difference in Yemen as opposed to Libya or Syria is that the tribal leaders have more than enough firepower to take on and possibly overthrow the government.

Plus there has been defectors in the governments own military. Their largest armoued brigade commander defected a month or 2 ago so the opposition is pretty even, if not more powerful, than the current government. At the moment, it looks like the opposition is winning since they have already taken a few government buildings, plus the state news agency in just 3 days.....and with only 1 tribal group.

Update for thursday.

G8 says Yemen leader must quit, as agreed

DEAUVILLE, France (Reuters) - The Group of Eight leaders condemned violence by Yemeni forces against peaceful protesters and called on President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Friday to stick to his commitment to end his 33-year rule.

Looks like most of the major nations agree that they want Saleh out fast.

reply to post by buni11687


The fighting spreads from the capital.....

Tribal fighters allied to the Hashid stormed the camp, 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Sanaa, and killed tens of troops — including the base commander — in the fighting, said local tribal leader Sheik Ali Saif. After the fighters captured the camp, government airplanes bombed them and other forces clashed with them on the ground, he said. At least 18 tribesmen were killed, Saif said. Tribal fighters then assaulted two helicopters that landed nearby, capturing them and a number of soldiers and shooting down a third helicopter, Saif said. Yemen's Interior Ministry denied the base's capture in a statement.

Link

Whether anyone wants to admit it, Yemen is the first few baby steps into total war. I wonder how this will fit into the grander scheme of things?

Looks like the Yemeni Airforce has been brought into this battle.

www.cnn.com...

(CNN) -- Five loud explosions rung out early Saturday in the Yemeni capital, residents said, amid a surge of violence pitting tribal forces against those loyal to embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

On Friday, a senior Yemeni defense official said that at least seven air force combat jets had bombed tribal forces opposed to the president.

The bombers were deployed east of Sanaa to the district of Nehm, where two military compounds had been overtaken earlier by tribal fighters, said the official, who was not identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

The president and the tribal leaders have been saying Yemen is on the brink of civil war the past few days, but I would say the civil war is already happening, it just hasnt consumed the entire country yet.

US withdraws diplomats from Yemen amid clashes

YEMEN: The US has ordered all its non-essential diplomats and family members of embassy staff to leave Yemen as fighting there escalates.

Plus the UK, India, and the Phillippines have also ordered most of their staff to leave the country.

Islamic militants seize coastal town in Yemen

SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni security officials say hundreds of Islamic militants have seized control of a southern city, killing eight policemen and two civilians in gunfights.

Officials said Friday's attackers were likely local Islamic militants who could be associated with al-Qaida. They spoke on condition of anonymity under government rules.

Friday's deaths raised the number of people killed to at least 127 in a week of battles between Saleh's forces and the Hashid.

It looks like the government is losing this one rapidly.

reply to post by Skerrako


From your article

Tribal fighters then assaulted two helicopters that landed nearby, capturing them and a number of soldiers and shooting down a third helicopter,

It looks like the opposition definantly has enough power to take on the government at the moment if they can do this, along with everything else they have done this week. Plus, not even all of the opposition has joined the fight yet.

I was watching the news a few minutes ago and they showed a little video that shows how large the protests were in the streets. They were huge. I searched the web and this is the closest picture Ive found showing how large they were.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/dbc8eb8d7441.jpg[/atsimg]

Heres a video that pretty much sums up the last week

keep the information coming...i'll be watching for updates

There has been an announced ceasefire. Civil war has been averted......for now. The violence can spark up again, especially as Saleh continues to not want to step down. Will be monitoring

www.bbc.co.uk...

Yemen's president and the country's most powerful tribal leader have agreed a ceasefire after five days of fighting in the capital Sanaa, a mediator says.

Well, the ceasfire didnt last too long.

news.yahoo.com...

SANAA (Reuters) – Street fighting raged in Yemen's capital on Tuesday ending a tenuous ceasefire between tribal groups and forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and edging the impoverished Arab state closer to civil war.

U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said 50 people may have been killed by government forces since Sunday in Taiz.

Explosions rocked a northern district of Sanaa on Tuesday that houses the headquarters of an army division headed by Ali Mohsen, an influential general who has joined the opposition.
Al Arabiya reported that government forces were bombarding Mohsen's unit, but the Defense Ministry denied it.

Plus "Radical Islamists" killed more soldiers in the south and captured another city.

news.yahoo.com...

SANAA, Yemen – Radical Islamists who overran a south Yemen town killed five soldiers in an ambush on Tuesday, security officials said, while fresh clashes broke out in the capital between security forces and fighters from the country's most powerful tribal confederation, edging the country toward civil war.

The upheaval in Yemen has sparked fears that militant groups will take over. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula operates in its weakly governed provinces along with a number of other radicals, like the ones who overran the town of Zinjibar near Yemen's south coast over the weekend.

Plus, the government is still killing protesters

news.yahoo.com...

SANAA (AFP) – Security forces shot dead seven anti-government protesters in Yemen's second-largest city Taez Tuesday, witnesses said, after 21 were killed as a long-running sit-in in a central square was smashed.

Looks like everything pretty much has fell apart.

Just found this that supposedly came out just hours ago.

Tribal fighters in Yemen's capital have taken over the headquarters of the ruling party. They're also surrounding the interior ministry.

Interesting. This is just one tribe (allegedly) that has pretty much overthrown the government now. The military defectors havent even joined the fight yet and the government is already pretty much over. Didnt take too long.

Looks like a major battle is taking place

news.yahoo.com...

SANAA, Yemen – A Yemeni army officer who defected from President Ali Abdullah Saleh's camp says government forces and armed tribesmen who sided with the opposition have fought new street battles overnight in the capital Sanaa, leaving dozens killed and injured.

The officer also says that thousands of armed tribesmen have fought the Yemeni army about 10 miles (15 kilometers) from the city in an effort to push toward Sanaa.

Holy cow! Thousands?!? It shouldnt be too much longer now until they reach Sanaa.

He says the tribesmen captured 30 soldiers from the elite Republican Guard but released them later. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity, which is customary among the military.

Edit -

It looks like protesters in other cities have decided to take up arms themselves for the first time since the protests began months ago.

Al-Jazeera Yemen live blog

blogs.aljazeera.net...

45 min 6 sec ago - YemenWitnesses in the southern city of Taiz told the AFP that protesters have taken up arms against government forces loyal to president Ali Abdullah Saleh for the first time since protests began in January.