At least 10 Yemenis were killed Friday in fighting between government forces and tribesmen seeking to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh, officials said, raising fears about a collapse of security during a popular uprising in the Arab world’s poorest country. The violence began when armed tribesmen attacked a military convoy, killing a colonel and two of his aides near Sharab, 12 miles (20 kilometers) northwest of Taiz, security officials said. Hours later, the Yemeni army fired tank and artillery shells into Taiz, killing at least seven civilians and wounding more than 30 others, according to medical officials.
Yemen’s army has been shelling the outskirts of Taiz, Yemen’s second-largest city, to try to dislodge the tribesmen who have joined forces with anti-government protesters. The disintegrating security across Yemen has allowed armed tribesmen and Islamist groups to take over parts of the country’s weakly governed provinces. The US worries that Yemen’s active Al-Qaeda branch will exploit the chaos to step up operations.