North, South Yemen Soldiers Clash

SANA, Yemen — Hundreds of Yemeni soldiers were killed or wounded in fierce clashes between northern and southern troops at a joint military camp near the capital, southern authorities and Western diplomats said Thursday.

But northern security officials put the casualty toll much lower--at dozens killed and hundreds wounded. The conflicting estimates could not immediately be reconciled.

Fighting has flared over the last two days at a camp about 40 miles north of this capital, where both sides have military posts. The clash was the nearest to the capital since sporadic military confrontations began in February between troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh of the north and Vice President Ali Salim Bidh of the south.

The battles in the impoverished Red Sea nation threaten to unravel a nearly four-year union of the conservative north and the formerly Marxist south. Merging of the two countries’ armies--one of the last steps of the unification process--has not been completed.

In the heart of the capital, Deputy Prime Minister Hassan Mohammed Makki, a prominent figure from northern Yemen, survived an assassination attempt Thursday, but three of his aides were killed, the Interior Ministry said.