Yemen protesters storm elite military base; 50 die

[bemildred]

Source: AP

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Thousands of protesters backed by military defectors seized a base of the elite Republican Guards on Monday, weakening the control of Yemen's embattled president over this poor, fractured Arab nation. His forces fired on unarmed demonstrators elsewhere in the capital, killing scores, wounding hundreds and sparking international condemnation.

The protesters, joined by soldiers from the renegade 1st Armored Division, stormed the base without firing a single shot, according to witnesses and security officials. Some carried sticks and rocks. They used sandbags to erect barricades to protect their comrades from the possibility of weapons fire from inside the base, but none came and the Republican Guards eventually fled, leaving their weapons behind.

Although the base was not particularly large — the Republican Guards have bigger ones in the capital and elsewhere in Yemen — its capture buoyed the protesters' spirits and signaled what could be the start of the collapse of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year-old regime.

"It was unbelievable," said protester Ameen Ali Saleh of storming the base on the west side of the major al-Zubairy road, which runs through the heart of Sanaa. "We acted like it was us who had the weapons, not the soldiers."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jy8WoQpFxtzXhsZ1FhGECPvEZZtQ?docId=d09950acfc6249f1ba46143929e3bf80

[pampango]

1. WaPo:Resurgent violence in Yemen kills nearly 50 in 2 days, protesters storm elite military base

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/violence-in-yemen-escalates/2011/06/03/AGIud3HH_gallery.html

Thousands of protesters armed with sticks and backed by armed military defectors overran a base of the elite Presidential Guards in Yemen’s capital as fighting erupted across much of Sanaa on Monday. The death toll for the worst violence in months rose to nearly 50 in two days of clashes.

The protesters, joined by soldiers from the rebel 1st Armored Division, stormed the base without firing a single shot and seized a large number of firearms, according to witnesses and security officials. The anti-government force used sandbags to erect barricades as they advanced, providing their allied troops with the shelter they needed in case they took fire from inside the base. Republican Guards’ troops did not fire at the protesters and eventually fled, leaving their weapons behind.

The fall of the base into protesters’ hands is a significant development in the seven-month-old uprising against Saleh, who went to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after a June attack on his Sanaa compound and has not returned to Yemen since.

It signals what could be the start of a final showdown between the Republican Guards, led by Saleh’s son and heir apparent Ahmed, and the soldiers of the 1st Armored Division, another elite outfit that has fought in all of Yemen’s wars over the past two decades, and their tribal allies in the capital.

On Monday, the United States, European Union nations and others on the U.N. Human Rights Council used a meeting of the Geneva-based body to urge Yemen’s government to stop using force against peaceful protesters and seek a resolution to the monthslong unrest.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/resurgent-violence-in-yemen-kills-nearly-50-in-2-days-protesters-storm-elite-military-base/2011/09/19/gIQAMlgKfK_story.html

[AndyTiedye]

2. Does That Mean the Protesters Won't Be Unarmed Next Time?

[patrick t. cakes]

3. Wow, it's that easy?

I'm sure not, in truth, but elites worldwide should take note: the masses can and will over come.

They are so vulnerable.

Edited to add quote,

"It was unbelievable," said protester Ameen Ali Saleh of storming the base on the west side of the major al-Zubairy road, which runs through the heart of Sanaa. "We acted like it was us who had the weapons, not the soldiers."

[EFerrari]

4. The administration is stepping up drone attacks.

Is this another destabilization effort?

[NuttyFluffers]

5. wow, that's pretty amazing! almost miraculous.

the soldiers ran away, dropping their weapons... people died yes, but this could've been a far larger bloodbath.

[alp227]

6. Reuters: Yemen protest camp shelled as crackdown continues in Sana'a

A cameraman shot by a sniper is carried away by protesters on a motorcycle during the recent crackdown in Sana'a, Yemen. Photograph: Hani Mohammed/AP

Rockets have hit a protest camp in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, killing at least two people on a third day of violence that continued the government's deadliest crackdown yet on pro-democracy demonstrations.

Heavy shelling and machine-gun fire rocked the city early on Tuesday morning, marking an escalation in Yemen's eight-month standoff between troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and protesters backed by soldiers who have defected to the opposition.

Witnesses told Reuters at least three missiles struck the camp just after morning prayers at around 5am local time. "The rockets hit some of the men who were walking outside past a market. I have two dead and five hurt," said Dr Mohammed al-Qubati, the director of a field hospital at the protest camp on a site the protesters have dubbed Change Square.

"We were walking back from prayers. All of a sudden a rocket hit close by from out of nowhere and some people fell down. And then a second one came and that's when we saw the two martyred," said Manea al-Matari, a protest organiser camped in the square.

full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/20/yemen-protest-camp-shelled-sanaa