Power struggle looms as troops fight each other

The unrest could signal the start of a power struggle just days after autocratic president Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to end his 33-year rule.

The two units have clashed in the past, but yesterday’s fighting, near the home of vice-president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was the first showdown between military units since Mr Saleh signed a US-backed proposal on Wednesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

In a report released yesterday, Human Rights Watch accused Yemeni forces of committing war crimes by indiscriminately shelling civilian areas including a hospital and a central square in Taiz.