Fighting between pro- and anti-government forces spread through Yemen's capital on Thursday and snipers shot dead two protesters and wounded 14 others, diminishing the chances of a diplomatic solution to prevent the country sliding into civil war.
Gunbattles and shelling between state troops and soldiers backing a protest movement bent on unseating President Ali Abdullah Saleh shook areas near "Change Square," the name demonstrators have given the street where thousands have camped out for eight months demanding an end to his 33-year rule.
Across Sanaa, fighting resurged with heavy explosions and gunfire in Hasaba, a neighbourhood where the powerful anti-Saleh tribal leader Sadeq al-Ahmar lives. Fighting between his tribesmen and government forces dragged Yemen to the brink of civil war some months ago before a cease-fire was agreed.
A total of seven people were killed in Thursday's clashes by late afternoon, including two government soldiers and two armed tribesmen fighting alongside them, the interior ministry said in a statement. A guard at the house of a key opposition figure also died when Saleh loyalists bombarded his house.
Snipers said to be lurking on the upper floors of buildings killed two protesters and wounded at least 14 around Change Square, a doctor at the square's clinic said. Angry protesters set fire to a house where they believed snipers were hiding, while medics set up a blood donation campaign for the wounded. Negotiations on a peaceful transfer of power have stalled, and the UN's Yemen envoy said the country on the south end of the Arabian Peninsula would be torn apart unless a political solution is reached soon between Saleh's camp and his foes.