Huge blasts heard near opposition leader's house in Yemen's capital

SANAA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A series of huge explosions were heard around opposition leader Sadiq al-Ahmar's house nearby the Yemeni Interior Ministry and there was heavy fire following the explosions, witnesses and security official told Xinhua.

Earlier, a tribal source said that Yemeni government forces attacked the house of Sadiq al-Ahmar, an opposition tribal leader and speaker of the parliament, leaving a dozen of his tribesmen injured.

The source added that the strong armed forces of al-Ahmar's Hasid tribe, the most powerful tribe in Yemen, were on their way to Sanaa.

Ministry of Religious Endowment and Islamic Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Official Saba news agency and Yemen airways building were surrounded by the anti-government tribesmen and militants after fierce clashes, some of them were being under attack.

Meanwhile, there is heavy gunfire around official Saba news agency, Al-Arabiya TV station reported.
An official of Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the militants were strafing their building, whose windows were all smashed, while all the guards of the ministry were killed.
At least one journalist of Saba news agency was injured and heavy clashes were still ongoing, said a Saba official.

"It is a civil war, and huge casualties are expected," an official of the Interior ministry said.
Tensions soared in Sanaa since Sunday evening after the Yemeni Republican Guards forces stored a lot of weapons in al-Ramah School, which is located next to al-Ahmar house.

On Sunday, Yemen celebrated the 21st anniversary of country's reunification as situation slipped on the verge of bloody clashes between thousands of armed loyalists of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and their rivals who packed the streets to demand an immediate end to Saleh's 33-year rule.

Saleh has thwarted the U.S.-backed Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC) deal three times since April as he refused to sign it on Sunday.

Gulf Arab states then suspended their Yemen power transition deal.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday urged Saleh to "peacefully and orderly" transfer power, saying "the time for action is now."