Yemen Edges Toward Civil War as Truce Ends

Saleh's troops fighting both tribal groups and al-Qaeda
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 31, 2011 6:54 AM CDT
Yemen Edges Toward Civil War as Truce Ends
Anti-government protesters check on a friend wounded in clashes with Yemeni security forces at a hospital in Taiz.   (AP Photo/Mohammed Al-Sayaghi)

The short truce in Yemen that never quite managed to be a truce is over, the government declared today. The development means that Yemen is that much closer to civil war and financial ruin, reports Reuters. President Ali Abdullah Saleh's troops and tribal groups engaged in fierce fighting in the capital and elsewhere, with human rights observers estimating that 50 rebel fighters had been killed since Sunday.

"The situation in Yemen seems to be deteriorating," says a risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp. "The problem with Yemen is that it is next to Saudi Arabia, and it has been a source of terrorist attacks against Saudi Arabia." Separately, government troops continue to fight al-Qaeda militants in Zinjibar on the coast. Saleh continues to defy international pressure to end his 33-year rule. (More Yemen stories.)

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