Air strikes reported in Yemen as tribesmen announce ceasefire with government

[News_Editor]

Air strikes reported in Yemen as tribesmen announce ceasefire with government

2011-05-28 00:46:51 GMT+7 (ICT)

SANAA, YEMEN (BNO NEWS) -- Tribesmen said on Friday that the Yemeni government carried out air strikes in Nehm district, killing 18 and injuring dozens, the Yemen Post reported.

Nehm tribal leader Sheikh Saleh Najeed said government forces attacked the villages with air force combat jets, killing 18, injuring 65, and destroying more than 120 homes. He said that two of the military bombers landed in villages of Nehm and refused to attack the tribes.

The planes are now in the control of the Nehm tribes and the 24 soldiers who were aboard the helicopters are now with the tribes. The tribesmen also confirmed that they have taken 9 tanks from the republican guards.

In addition, many were reported dead and injured as clashes between security forces and tribesmen continued on the outskirts of Sana'a.


Meanwhile, Sadiq Al-Ahmer, sheikh of the Hashid tribes, announced on Friday a truce between his tribal supporters and the government forces, after five consecutive days of street battles that left dozens dead and hundreds injured

"I was not injured and none my brothers was injured. We are all safe and we are ready to face those who are seeking to kill us inside our homes," he told anti-government protesters who gathered outside Sana'a Univeritsity following Friday prayer.

Tribal fighters from the most powerful tribal coalition, Hashid, flooded into the capital Sana'a earlier this week to support their elder, Al-Ahmer, after government forces attacked his house. Tribesmen took over several government buildings, triggering fears of a civil war.

The Hashid tribe recently joined the opposition groups behind the anti-government protests in Yemen. Current President Ali Abdullah Saleh belongs to the Hashid, Yemen's largest tribe, but Al-Ahmer supported the opposition instead.

The clashes came hours after Saleh threatened with civil war after refusing, for the third time, to sign a power transfer deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) last Sunday.

The opposition signed the deal on Saturday to end the country's political crisis but Saleh told visiting GCC Secretary General Abdul Latif Al-Zayani his refusal to the transition deal. The GCC-proposed plan included guarantees that Saleh will not be prosecuted after his resignation within 30 days from the acceptance date. It also called for holding presidential elections within two months from the date of Saleh's departure as well as the establishment of a new government within 90 days.

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