23 Yemenis die in airstrike

Anti-government protesters carry a fellow protester wounded during clashes with police in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden. (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/179210.html

At least 23 people have been killed in an airstrike launched by the Yemeni government against tribes near Sana'a.

The attack took place on Tuesday after hundreds of tribesman blocked a tank brigade reportedly heading to a nearby town to suppress anti-government protests.

Reports say the brigade was commanded by President Ali Abdullah Saleh's son.

Earlier on Tuesday, at least 20 people were injured in clashes between regime forces and protesters in the western port of Hudaydah. The residents of the city say they plan to intensify the demonstrations and occupy government buildings to force Saleh to step down.

Saleh has been in office since 1978 and recently rejected a plan proposed by the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council ([P]GCC) that offers him immunity in return for his resignation.

At least 300 protesters have been killed and many others injured during clashes with riot police and armed forces loyal to the Yemeni president since the anti-regime demonstrations began in late January, according to local reports.

There are concerns that the intermittent skirmishes between anti-government demonstrators and forces loyal to Saleh could eventually spiral out of control and trigger large-scale violence.

Forty percent of the people of Yemen are living on two US dollars a day or less and one third are wrestling with chronic hunger.

Some 31.5 percent of the population is “food insecure” and around 12 percent are “severely food insecure,” according to the United Nations.