Explosions and heavy gunfire rocked the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, overnight amid renewed fighting between government-backed security forces and protesters loyal to tribal leader Sadek al-Ahmar.

Al-Ahmar said in an e-mailed statement that the government violated a truce agreed with his tribe by attacking his house again. The government accused members of al-Ahmar’s Hashid tribe of attempting to take over the ruling party headquarters.

The conflict between security forces and al-Ahmar’s tribe broke out last week after President Ali Abdullah Saleh declined to sign an accord brokered by Gulf Arab countries requiring him to give up power within 30 days. Violence has escalated across the country since then, with at least 21 people killed in the southern city of Taiz yesterday, one of the bloodiest days in four months of protests. Al-Jazeera television said as many as 57 people may have been killed. read more