Yemen’s bloodiest day yet leaves more than 22 dead

Hospitals in Sana’a unable to cope with the number of casualties as security forces clashed with anti-government groups For the past few weeks Change Square in Sana’a has belonged to Yemen’s young revolutionaries. It has been filled with dancing and singing to protest against the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. But there was no singing on Monday. Instead, the square was filled with the echoes of gunfire and screams as the young demonstrators carried their injured friends to safety, their blood dripping in a long crimson trail that led to the field hospital. It was the bloodiest day yet in Yemen’s nine-month uprising, with more than 22 killed and at least 350 wounded. The carnage followed an attack on Sunday that left 30 dead and set the scene for the violence that has broken new ground in the stand-off between anti-government groups and loyalist security forces. On Monday night Sana’a’s hospitals said they were unable cope with the number of casualties. Demonstrators were urgently calling for blood donors and trying to ferry the wounded to hospitals on Sana’a’s outskirts. Many of the wounds appeared to have been caused by high-calibre rounds fired into the crowds from anti-aircraft guns. One protester, Ridwan al-Sabahi, was mourning his comrades on the outskirts of Change Square. “They were amongst us yesterday and are dead today,” he said. “We were all laughing and dreaming of the day when Yemen will be democratic and free.” The blood of the “martyrs” had not been spilt in vain, he said, adding: “We will never forgive Saleh and his family.” Saleh, who was wounded during an explosion as he prayed in a mosque earlier in the year, remains in Riyadh as the guest of the Saudi Arabian monarch, King Abdullah, who on Monday received him in his palace. The day’s violence was vividly illustrated by a live video stream from a field hospital set up by protesters after skirmishes with forces loyal to the president. A dead 10 month-old girl with a head wound brought to the hospital was identified as Anas al-Suaidi, shot by a sniper. Soon afterwards a screaming man with no right arm arrived. At another hospital around 23 bodies were laid out in a makeshift morgue. As night fell the shooting appeared to have spread across Sana’a as rebel units clashed with loyalist forces in a series of running battles across the city. There were reports that security forces loyal to Saleh’s son, Ahmed, were stationed near several of the hospitals treating the defected soldiers. The road to the airport was closed and flights were delayed. Mohammed al-Sabri, the spokesman for the opposition dialogue committee, said: “The massacre that the Saleh regime is continuing will not be forgotten and those who kill protesters will stand trial, sooner or later.” Ahmed Qurshi, president of a Yemeni children’s rights organisation, said: “Tens of children were shot over the last two days by government troops. Is this the democracy the Saleh regime claims it is seeking?” Anti-government activists in the capital blame state media for the chaos in Yemen, claiming they openly provoke attacks. “Open government media outlets and you will see why the government is portraying these youths as outlaws rather than seekers of democracy,” said Ali Abdul Jabbar, director of the Sana’a based Dar al-Ashraf Research Center. Yemen’s government blamed al-Qa’ida elements it claimed were inciting trouble inside the anti-government movement for sparking Monday’s violence. “The government of Yemen expresses its sorrow and condemnation for all acts of violence and bloodshed as those that happened yesterday in Sana’a,” foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Kurbi told the UN human rights council. “The government will investigate and hold accountable all those who were in charge of these acts,” he added. As he spoke government helicopters patrolled the skies of Sana’a and reportedly targeted homes and property of senior opposition leaders. The youth of Yemen, who have been a driving force behind attempts to remove Saleh and his regime from office after three decades, this week lamented that their revolution had persistently played second fiddle to the events in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, which had captured international imagination and won broad regional appeal. “Nine whole months protesting in the streets under the burning sunlight, and still no one appreciates our peaceful efforts,” said Nujood Saleh, a youth activist in Sana’a. “The Libyan revolution succeeded by the use of force while we are still suffering. We insist on peaceful strategies to achieve freedom and democracy.” Another activist had a different take on events from here. “We are not scared to use weapons, said Abdullah Mujalli. “But we know that the crisis is like a matchstick. When it burns it will burn everything around it – and quickly.” Yemen Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 19, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.