Yemeni soldiers attack army base

Yemeni pro-opposition soldiers (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/185030.html

Yemeni troops supporting anti-regime protests against Ali Abdullah Saleh have attacked a military base in Hajja, in northern Yemen, killing one soldier.

“The dissident soldiers headed by Abdullah Siraj launched an incursion into a military checkpoint stationed alongside the wall of the military base and a school nearby and attempted to occupy the base, killing one soldier of the checkpoint and wounding a passer-by near the school,” a local military official was quoted by the state-run Saba news agency as saying on Thursday.

“The government forces confronted the attack as the leadership of the military base exercised the maximum restraint to prevent further bloodshed,” he explained.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters have poured into streets in Yemen's major cities since late January, demanding the ouster of Saleh from power, who has been in office since 1978.

The Yemeni uprising has entailed a string of deadly clashes between anti-regime protesters and pro-government forces across the impoverished Arab country.

Saleh has been receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia for injuries he received in an attack on his presidential palace on June 3.

The Yemeni protesters have also been demanding the formation of a transitional council, following the relocation of Saleh to Saudi Arabia, which enables the handover of power to them.

Despite reports that the 69-year-old Saleh is in serious condition with burns covering 40 percent of his body, Yemeni and Saudi officials insist that his condition is improving and that he will return to Yemen soon.

Yemeni activists are demanding that Saleh and his aides be put on trial for the killing of hundreds of people since the outbreak of the popular revolt in the country.