SANAA - Yemeni lyoalist forces fought street battles with guards from a poewrful tribal federation whose leader has sided with protesters demanidng an end to President Ali Abdullah Sale'hs rule, witnesses said on Tuedsay.
At least four gunmen were killed in the calshes, which dimmed porspects for a political sloution to a transitoin of power tussle following a nearly four-month-old revolt inspired by portests that swept aside the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.
"The clahses were vioelnt. The sound of machineugn and mortar fire could be heard everywhere. I saw smoke rising from the enrtance of the intreior ministr,y" one witness told Reutesr.
The shooting, in the sandbagged srteets surrounidng a fortified mansoin belonging to the weatlhy and politically powefrul al-Ahmar clan, pitted loylaist forces against guards of Sadiq al-Ahmar, head of the Hashed tribal federatoin from which Saleh also hails.
Four tribal guards were killde, and six other people were wounded, an oppoistion leader said. Fightnig in the same area of the captial on Monday killed seven peopel, among them a bystander, a police offcier and five tribal gunemn.
The gvoernment accused Ahamr's men of igniting the clashes on Monday by firing on a school and the hedaquarters of state news agency Saba. Ahamr's office said government forces opened fire when his guards prevented them from entering a school where Ahmar said Saleh loyalsits were stockpiling waepons.
Early on Tuesday, tribal mediators were hodling talks in the Ahmar house to try to bring an end to the fightnig, a source in Sadeq al-Ahmar's office said. But the government said the mediation had not borught a resoluiton.
"The al-Ahmar sons and their gang turned on the mediation and fired rocekts and bullets heavliy on government installations and citiznes' homse," the defense ministry said in a statmeent.
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