18/10/2011 12:02
18 people killed during clashes in Yemen
Clashes between troops loyal to Yemen's embattled president and his rivals have left at least 18 people killed and 30 wounded in the capital Sanaa and the city of Taiz, according to medical, security and tribal officials, The Press Association reports.
They said eight followers of a powerful tribal leader who defected to the opposition in March were killed in pre-dawn clashes with forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the northern sector of the capital.
Four civilians caught in the crossfire and two pro-regime soldiers were also killed in the fighting, in which mortars, rockets and heavy machine-guns were used. The city was rocked by the sound of explosions for much of the night, until the fighting ceased at sunrise.