— President Ali Abdullah Saleh was burned over 40 percent of his body and suffered bleeding in the brain from last weekend’s attack on his palace, U.S. officials said Tuesday, indicating his wounds were worse than initially reported. The revelation casts doubts on a quick return to Yemen and spells a deepening power vacuum.
In the wake of Saleh’s evacuation to Saudi Arabia for treatment, Yemen’s violence escalated, with government troops battling Islamic militants and opposition tribesmen in two southern cities on Tuesday. The military said it killed 30 militants who were among a group that took over the city of Zinjibar last week amid the country’s turmoil.
