(RTTNews) - Yemeni capital Sanaa reverberated with explosions and gunfire on Monday night as government forces continued firing shells at a camp of anti-government protesters fighting for the ouster of long-reigning President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Quoting witnesses, reports said that two people coming out of a mosque after 'Fajre' prayers early on Tuesday morning were gunned down in the latest flare-up in Sanaa where more than 50 people were killed when security forces shelled a rally of pro-democracy protesters, mostly university students, on Sunday.
The government has strongly denied that security forces opened fire on the rally and blamed militants supported by the al-Qaeda for the incident.
The latest violence is the worst the impoverished country has seen since anti-government protests broke out nine months ago. Witnesses said government snipers positioned on rooftops were shooting at civilians while fighting a full-scale war against an army unit that defected to the protesters months ago.
Unconfirmed reports said troops loyal to the protesters on Monday seized a base of the elite Republican Guards commanded by Saleh's son Ahmed.
Political observers say final battle for control of the strategically-located country on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula could pit the Republican Guards against the army units loyal to the protesters and their tribal allies.Mass protests and killings by security forces had also been reported from cities of Taiz and Aden in recent days.
Saleh, who has ruled the country for more than three decades, is currently in neighboring Saudi Arabia recovering from injuries suffered in a June rocket attack on his presidential mansion in Sanaa. He has refused to quit power and vowed to return to the poverty-stricken Arab country.
Meanwhile, envoys from the United Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) arrived in Yemen on Monday in a bid to sort out a deal to end the bloodshed.
Quoting witnesses, reports said that two people coming out of a mosque after 'Fajre' prayers early on Tuesday morning were gunned down in the latest flare-up in Sanaa where more than 50 people were killed when security forces shelled a rally of pro-democracy protesters, mostly university students, on Sunday.
The government has strongly denied that security forces opened fire on the rally and blamed militants supported by the al-Qaeda for the incident.
The latest violence is the worst the impoverished country has seen since anti-government protests broke out nine months ago. Witnesses said government snipers positioned on rooftops were shooting at civilians while fighting a full-scale war against an army unit that defected to the protesters months ago.
Unconfirmed reports said troops loyal to the protesters on Monday seized a base of the elite Republican Guards commanded by Saleh's son Ahmed.
Political observers say final battle for control of the strategically-located country on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula could pit the Republican Guards against the army units loyal to the protesters and their tribal allies.Mass protests and killings by security forces had also been reported from cities of Taiz and Aden in recent days.
Saleh, who has ruled the country for more than three decades, is currently in neighboring Saudi Arabia recovering from injuries suffered in a June rocket attack on his presidential mansion in Sanaa. He has refused to quit power and vowed to return to the poverty-stricken Arab country.
Meanwhile, envoys from the United Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) arrived in Yemen on Monday in a bid to sort out a deal to end the bloodshed.
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