(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Thousands of armed tribesmen headed to the Yemeni capital on Thursday; hours after security forces killed at least 15 people in fierce battles through the night.
Tribal chiefs said the tribesmen made the move to back their leader Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar who heads the powerful Hashid tribal federation.
At least 15 people were killed in overnight clashes in Sanaa's Al-Hasaba neighborhood, al-Ahmar’s stronghold.
Among the victims was a seven-year-old girl, who died of her wounds after she was hit by a stray bullet, said a medical official at Al-Jomhoreya hospital in Sanaa.
The tribesmen clashed with security forces at a military post 15 kilometers north of Yemen's capital, the sources said.
Residents described the overnight clashes as the "most violent" of the past two days. Running street battles on Wednesday killed 47 people, medics said on Thursday, raising a previous toll of 39.
Fighting in the capital broke out on Tuesday after a truce collapsed between security forces and tribesmen who have taken control of public buildings across the capital.
The truce was announced May 27, after a week of fierce clashes that erupted when embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh warned of a civil war as he refused to sign a Gulf-brokered plan for him to give up office as demanded by pro-democracy protesters.
Ahmar had in March pledged his support for protesters who have been demonstrating since January for the departure of Saleh, who has been in power since 1978.
The defense ministry's 26sep.net news website said tribesmen had on Wednesday occupied a building near the presidential palace, in the south of Sanaa.
Witnesses said thousands of people have fled Sanaa while many shops remained shut and there were long lines at petrol stations.
The witnesses said reinforcements from the Republican Guards, an elite unit loyal to the president, had been sent to Al-Hasaba.
A fourth army brigade camp located near the state television and radio headquarters was targeted by rockets, as was the interior ministry headquarters, witnesses said.
26sep.net, meanwhile, said government forces "regained control of a number of public buildings," without specifying which ones.
The website had said on Tuesday that Ahmar's tribesmen had seized both the headquarters of the ruling General People's Congress and the main offices of the water utility.
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