Five persons killed in tribal confrontations in Yemen

A Yemeni security official announced yesterday that five persons were killed and other three wounded in tribal confrontations to the east of the Yemeni capital.

The official explained that the clashes took place on Tuesday between armed men from al-Maraziq and al-Seida tribes in the governorate of Ma'reb, 170 Km from Sanbaa.

Armed clashes between tribes or even with the security forces are considered common practice in Yemen because of the composition of the tribal society and the vast distribution of weaponswith most of such clashes turning to bloody fighting.

The number of weapon owned by tribes men and civilians is estimated at more than 60 million weapon pieces, at an average of three pieces of weapons for every Yemeni citizen.

By the beginning of 2002, the Yemeni government banned carrying fire weapons in Yemen's cities in an attempt to control the security situation in the country where tribes own large amounts of weapons.