In three days of fighting, more than 80 people were killed and 1,000
injured in Sanaa. The U.S.-trained Republican Guard and Special
Forces, in the worst fighting in months, opened with artillery and mortar
fire against Al Ahmar positions throughout the capital.
In response, thousands of pro-opposition fighters rushed and captured a
Republican Guard base in Sanaa. Much of the fighting, in which Saleh troops
fled, took place near the international airport in the city.
Opposition leaders said they refused Arab and Western offers to
negotiate with the Saleh regime. They said Saleh, who has undergone medical
treatment in Saudi Arabia, has withdrawn from three agreements to resign.
"We can't talk after all the bloodshed, the torn limbs and the killing
of our people," Yemeni opposition spokesman Mohammed Al Sabri said. "Any
talks would represent a collaboration in the crimes committed by the
regime."
Despite his absence, the military remains controlled by Saleh's family.
The president's son, Ahmed, commands both the Republican Guard and Special
Forces, said to have expelled rebel units from an area in downtown Sanaa.
"After the clashes with the rebels, we found a large cache of
rocket-propelled grenades and missiles," a Yemeni military source said.
Clashes between the Saleh military and the opposition were also reported
in Aden and Taiz. Reports from those cities told of civilian resistance to
the military operations.
"The Saleh regime is finished," opposition leader Abdul Hadi Al Azzai
said.