Global General

Armed tribesmen seize govt building in Yemen

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-04 21:44

SANAA - Armed tribesmen took over several government buildings in Yemen's southern province of Taiz on Saturday after they confronted government forces, officials and witnesses said.

"Armed tribesmen, who sided with protesters demanding immediate ousting of embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh, took over control of several government buildings after they clashed and forced security forces out of their stations," a local official told Xinhua.

"The seized government buildings including the headquarters of a security department in downtown Taiz, provincial office of the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum and General AL- Thowra Hospital," he said on condition of anonymity.

Eyewitnesses said there were a lot of random gunshots which left many people injured. "The situation was still dangerous as shooting between the tribesmen and security forces were going on. No one know the exact number of the injured or the dead," a witness named Khaled Abdullah said.