Troops fire mortars at Yemen mourners

Yemeni forces fired mortars at tens of thousands of mourners today as funerals were held for anti-government protesters demanding the resignation of president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The attack shattered two days of a tense ceasefire negotiated after violence erupted on the streets and an elite army division sided with the rebels .

The mourners had gathered for funeral prayers for protesters killed in a deadly, three-day government crackdown in which the death toll topped 80. The attack targeted Change Square in the capital Sana'a, where thousands of protesters have camped out since February.

One witness, Tarek Noamani, a doctor at the square's field hospital, today said snipers had been seen on rooftops along the main roads into the square. The International Committee of the Red Cross today expressed concern about the "unprecedented level of violence".

A spokesman said that aid workers had been barred from access to injured people and that they were "threatened and assaulted".

The 1st Armored Division, one of Yemen's most combat tested military outfits, mutinied in March to join the opposition. It is led by Saleh's one-time confidant and war veteran Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar.

The fight over control of the Yemeni capital will the rebel unit against the elite Republican Guards, led by Ali's son and one-time heir apparent Ahmed. Both sides claim about 20,000 fighters inside the capital, but the Guards have superior weaponry.