Modern Sinbad: Yemen Live Blog

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Tribal leader Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar is surrounded by bodyguards as he walks in his house while police clash with tribesmen loyal to him outside the house in Sanaa May 24, 2011.

As the Yemen uprising escalates into a possible civil war, we update you with the latest developments from our correspondents, news agencies and citizens across the globe. Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.

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3 hours 16 min ago - Yemen

Anti-government protesters shout slogans during a rally to demand the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa on Thursday:

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Tags Ali Abdullah Saleh, Sanaa

3 hours 23 min ago - Yemen

Amal Al-Basha, the chairperson of the Arab Sisters' Forum for Human Rights, has the latest from the Yemeni capital:

Tags Sanaa

4 hours 41 min ago - Yemen

Fighting is flaring up in the Yemeni capital.

Latest reports say protesters were fired upon with live bullets and flights are suspended at Sanaa's international airport.

Sources tell Al Jazeera that thousands are now fleeing the capital.

In the past few hours there have been reports of pro-government fighters firing Katyusha rockets towards the home of prominent opposition tribal leader, Sadiq al-Ahmar.

Tags Sadeq Al Ahmar, Sanaa

6 hours 18 min ago - Yemen

This video titled "Sanaa now under fire", live rounds of gun shots, shelling and explosions can be heard. The footage was uploaded by YouTube user la7jpress:

6 hours 22 min ago - Yemen

Tweets flow from Yemen carrying news of continued sniper fire toward protesters in Sanaa's Change Square.

@RajaAlthaibani tweeted:

Gunmen are attacking the perimeter of the square from different directions: Al-Zara'a St., Hayel St., Al-Ribat St...

@Abe_Alansy tweeted:

I'm afraid we're trapped inside the change sq, gunmen and snipers deployed on the roofs of houses near the sq

Tags Ali Abdullah Saleh, heavy artillery, protest, Sanaa, shelling, violence

6 hours 36 min ago - Yemen

Saleh Sharafi, founder of the Union of Independent Youth, tells Al Jazeera that unknown men are shouting at protesters in Sanaa's Change Square to leave the area.

Sharafi says it is unclear who these men are - whether they are President Ali Abdullah Saleh's security forces or not.

Protesters inside university buildings near the square are being forced to exit, Sharafi said.

Tags Ali Abdullah Saleh, Change Square, protest, Sanaa, violence

6 hours 59 min ago - Yemen

A statement by the Gulf Cooperation Council says Gulf Arab states will continue to work for peace in Yemen:

Abdulattif al-Zayani, the secretary-general of the GCC, confirms the continuation of the GCC in exerting all efforts to help brothers in Yemen to reach a peaceful solution ending the ongoing fighting and to stop the bloodshed of the Yemeni people.

On May 22 the GCC put its exit plan for Ali Abdullah Saleh on hold after diplomats failed to persuade Saleh to sign the deal that would ease him out of power.

Tags Ali Abdullah Saleh, GCC, protest, protests, violence

7 hours 5 min ago - Yemen

Sharafi says the situation in Sanaa's Hasaba district is "very hostile and dangerous" to a point where it is "not possible to collect the dead and the injured from the streets."

Sharafi says a cameraman, who is near the neighbourhood where tribal fighters and Saleh loyalst troops have been battling, has told him: "It is impossible to move even an inch because of the intense gunfire and shelling."

"Dead bodies are scattered on the streets at the entrance of Hasaba, unable to be collected to be transported to a hospital morgue," the cameraman said, according to Sharafi.

Tags Ali Abdullah Saleh, Hasaba, protest, Sanaa, shelling, violence

7 hours 18 min ago - Yemen

Saleh Sharafi, founder of the Union of Independent Youth, tells Al Jazeera that there are as many as 25,000 Yemenis protesting at Sanaa's Change Square, weathering sniper fire buildings near by.

Sharafi, who is currently at the square, says loud explosions are heard all around, though it is unclear exactly where they are happening.

He adds that tanks are surrounding Change Square as well as President Ali Abdullah Saleh's "hired mobs", who are on standby, "ready to attack the protesters at any minute":

A lot of people are here at Change Square, ready to die for the sake of the nation. We are staging a peaceful revolution but Saleh is trying to ignite a civil war. We are waiting for [Saleh's forces to] attack; those who are ready to attack us by rockets and heavy artillery. We don't know what is going to happen but we are not afraid ... We are going to make this revolution stronger, to show the world how much more profitable peace is than a civil war.