Protesters danced, sang and slaughtered cows in the central square of Yemen's capital today to celebrate the departure of the country's authoritarian leader for medical treatment after he was wounded in a rocket attack on his compound.

Military officials and witnesses say dozens of gunmen are attacking the presidential palace at Taiz, Yemen's second largest city, and have killed four soldiers in an attempt to storm the compound.

Yemen risks becoming "a much more serious threat" to UK national security, Foreign Secretary William Hague warned amid fears it could descend into chaos.

Five top members of the government were sent to Saudi Arabia for treatment of wounds they suffered in a rebel rocket attack on the presidential palace, the official government news agency reported today. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was slightly injured.

The Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, survived a rocket attack on his presidential compound yesterday, an escalation that could pave the way for a bloody showdown between warring regime loyalists and tribesmen.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was wounded when opposition tribesmen determined to topple him hit his palace with rockets today in a major escalation of nearly two weeks of fighting with government forces. At least six guards were killed and seven top officials were also wounded, an official said.

The headquarters of Yemeni Airways has been engulfed in flames amidst fierce fighting in the capital Sanaa.

Fighting between forces loyal to the Yemeni President and one of the country's most influential tribes intensified yesterday as an American envoy flew to the region in an attempt to stop the country from plunging into a bloody civil war. At least 135 people have died in clashes in the capital, Sanaa, in the past 10 days, the bloodiest period since a popular uprising calling for political reform started in January.

Forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh battled with tribal fighters in Yemen's capital today in overnight clashes that killed dozens as a US envoy flew around the region to try and stop a civil war.

Renewed fighting in Yemen's capital between a powerful tribal group and President Ali Abdullah Saleh's forces has killed at least 19 people this week and rocked Sanaa with explosions, officials said today.

Street fighting raged across the capital Sanaa yesterday after a tenuous truce broke down between tribal groups and forces loyal to the President Ali Abdullah Saleh, as the UN human rights chief said her office had received reports that more than 50 people had been killed by government forces since Sunday.

Anyone with British relatives or friends in strife-torn Yemen is being urged to contact them and plead with them to get out of the country while they still can.

Yemen's security forces stormed an anti-regime protest camp in the southern city of Taiz yesterday, killing at least 20 people in the second bloodiest day of the four-month uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule.