Yemen street battles escalate, killing 9 people

SANAA, Yemen?? Heavy shelling and machinegun fire rocked Yemen's capital Sanaa on Tuesday, on the third day of violence triggered by the deadliest crackdown yet on pro-democracy protesters, witnesses said.

A mortar attack on unarmed protesters killed nine people on Tuesday, medical officials told The Associated Press.

Shots rang out in the early hours of the morning, residents told Reuters, despite reports of a ceasefire between troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and soldiers who had defected to the opposition.

Rapidly escalating street battles between opponents of Salen's regime and forces loyal to the embattled president spread to the home districts of senior government figures and other highly sensitive areas of the capital.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. China's soaring costs could help American jobs
   2. Flying monsters resurrected in 3-D
   3. Tax timeline will drive Obama and Congress
   4. Europe braces for impact of Greek default
   5. Who has what it takes to win 'Dancing'?
   6. Your Career: Whistleblower cases on rise
   7. Intel officials' emails posted after hack

The latest deaths took the number of people killed since Sunday to at least 60 as anti-regime protesters step up their campaign to topple Saleh and as a key military unit supporting him is drawn deeper into the fighting. Saleh's forces have hit back with attacks by rooftop snipers and shelling of protest encampments.

The violence is forcing more of the capital's residents to flee to the relative safety of rural Yemen. Scores of pickup trucks and sedans loaded with families and personal belongings could be seen headed out in early Tuesday morning after a night in which loud explosions repeatedly shook the city.

PhotoBlog: Snipers shoot protesters in Yemen

Most of those staying put in the capital are not leaving their homes for fear of snipers or getting caught up in gunfights, leaving the city looking increasingly deserted on Tuesday morning, with most stores shuttered.

Yemen's turmoil began in February as the unrest spreading throughout the Arab world ignited largely peaceful protests in the deeply impoverished and unstable corner of the Arabian Peninsula that is also home to an al-Qaida offshoot blamed for several nearly successful attempts to attack the United States.

The government has responded with a heavy crackdown.

Saleh went to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after a June attack on his Sanaa compound and has not returned to Yemen, but has resisted calls to resign.

Mortar attacks
After the dawn Muslim prayer on Tuesday, Saleh's forces lobbed mortar shells at Change Square, a plaza at the heart of the city where protesters have held a sit-in since the uprising began in February.

Medical officials said the shelling killed three protesters, three rebel soldiers and a bystander.

Clashes between protesters and security forces in the southern city of Taiz left two more people dead, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information.

Video: 56 killed in bloody Yemen crackdown (on this page)

Elsewhere in the capital, clashes between protesters and security forces erupted in several districts, with gunfire ringing out in areas close to Saleh's residence and the office of his son and one-time heir apparent, Ahmed, commander of the elite loyalist Republican Guards and Special Forces.

In the upscale district of Hadah, home to senior government officials as well as tribal leaders opposed to Saleh, gunbattles were raging between forces loyal to the president's son and bands of tribal fighters opposed to the regime.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44590922/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

star trek democracy democracy doctor saab megalodon human centipede