SANAA - At least 49 anti-government armed tribesmen of Yemeni opposition leader Sadiq al-Ahmar and 15 government troops were killed in intensified clashes on Tuesday in the capital Sanaa as smoke poured out from buildings of the Interior Ministry, officials from both sides said.  

An official of the Interior Ministry told Xinhua that the armed tribes of the opposition leader al-Ahmar, who is the chieftain of the most powerful Hashid tribe, fired mortar shells and rocket- propelled grenades (RPG) against the ministry and nearby security camp, killing 15 security forces and setting the highest floor of the Interior Ministry on fire and blazing a small building of the security camp.

Al-Ahmar, who backed protests to oust Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, hired around 3,000 armed tribesmen from the Houthi-led Shiite rebels stationed in northern province of Saada, according to Houthi sources.

An official of al-Ahmar's office told Xinhua that heavy attacks were launched by government forces against the residential compound of al-Ahmar, leaving at least 49 gunmen dead as RPG and mortar shells igniting fire inside al-Ahmar's compound.