ANTI-GOVERNMENT protests are set to escalate amid increasing violence in Yemen following the deaths of two men in a gunfight between activists and loyalists in Sana’a.
In violent clashes on the streets outside the capital’s main university, at least four people were shot and up to 20 injured as riot police lost control and pro-government elements burst into the encampment where thousands of activists have been staging a permanent sit-in since Sunday morning.
As rocks flew, gunfire was also exchanged between the opposing sides in a night of spiralling violence on the streets of the capital.
Seven members of parliament resigned from President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s ruling party to protest against what they described as government violence against demonstrators, parliamentarians said yesterday.
One loyalist demonstrator attacked a doctor on Tuesday night as he attempted to revive a fatally wounded activist.
“They were trying to kill us all, but we will not give up. We are not afraid,” said anti-government protester Mohammed Hizeem.
As riot police regained control of the baying crowds, about 100 armed soldiers arrived to provide reinforcements to the baton-carrying riot police. Anti-government activists destroyed cars and continued to throw rocks at the loyalist mob.
Protesters calling for the end of the president’s 32-year rule have become increasingly organised in the capital, with a committee set up to handle food and water distribution for those camping out as well as medical provisions.
Anti-government protests have spread in recent days, with demonstrations reported in provinces across the country including Hodeida, Hadramout, Ibb and Sa’ada. Demonstrations have continued in Aden, where at least 11 protesters have died and in Taiz, 130 miles south of Sana’a.
The northern Houthi rebels, who have been calling for autonomy in the province of Sa’ada in six wars against the government since 2004, have backed the student-led protests in Sana’a and Taiz.
In a country where tribal loyalty holds the key to power, President Saleh has sought to consolidate his support. He addressed a rally of 30,000 tribesmen in the capital last Sunday, calling for “dialogue not chaos”. Several hundred tribesmen from Arhab, south of Sana’a, have already arrived at the university to support those calling for Mr Saleh to resign.
Campaigners are expecting more to arrive. “They will come. They will come and join us, hundreds of them,” said Adil Asarabee. “They are not students, but like us they want Saleh gone.”
Demonstrations are planned across Yemen tomorrow and could be the most significant day of continuous protests since the fall of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
With the exception of Taiz, numbers on the streets have been lower than uprisings in Tunisia or Egypt, with Yemen’s educated middle class representing a small minority of the 23 million population in the Arab world’s poorest nation.
“Yemen is the worst case scenario and ripe for revolution,” said political analyst Dr Abdullah Al- Faqih. “The people want change.” – (Additional reporting Reuters)