Global General

Saleh 'well' after palace shelled: Yemen official

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-06-03 20:38

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh [Photo/Agencies]

SANAA – Shells struck Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's palace in Sanaa on Friday, wounding three senior officials, but a Yemeni official said Saleh was "well."

Fierce fighting engulfed the Yemeni capital, where residents cowered in their homes as explosions rocked the city.

Related readings:  Yemen fighting intensifies,US envoy in talks  China warns citizens of safety risks in Yemen

Two Yemeni officials said Saleh escaped unhurt, but the prime minister, his deputy and the parliament speaker had been wounded in the attack, blamed by the government on tribesmen led by the al-Ahmar family. Four guards were reported killed.

"The president is well and he will address the people in one hour, there are some slight injuries among officials," Abdu al-Janadi, deputy information minister, told Reuters.

A Yemeni opposition TV station, Suhail, reported earlier that Saleh had died in shelling that hit the palace mosque.

Yemen has tipped swiftly toward civil war this week, with forces of the Hashed tribal confederation battling troops still loyal to Saleh in the capital and elsewhere.

More than 370 people have been killed, at least 155 of them in the last 10 days, since a popular uprising against Saleh's nearly 33 years in power began in January.