More than 40 Yemenis were killed in pitched street battles in the capital on Thursday as fighting aimed at ending President Ali Abdullah Saleh's three-decade-long rule threatened to ignite civil war.Residents were hurriedly strapping furniture, stoves, baby cots and other possessions to the roofs of cars and trucks and streaming out of Sanaa by the thousands, hoping to escape the violence that has killed more than 80 people since Monday.The fighting, pitting the security forces of President Ali Abdullah Saleh against members of the country's most powerful Hashed tribe led by Sadiq al-Ahmar, was the bloodiest Yemen has seen since protests began in January.The defense ministry said 28 people were killed in an explosion in an arms storage area of Sanaa at dawn on Thursday.Fighters in civilian clothes roamed some districts and machinegun fire rang out sporadically.Sporadic explosions could be heard in the capital near the protest site where thousands of people demanding Saleh to leave after nearly 33 years in power are still camped.Black smoke from mortar fire mixed with a haze of pollution and dust that hangs over Sanaa like a shroud.Britain said it was reducing staffing at its embassy in Yemen because of the violence. Washington also told all non-essential diplomats and embassy family members to leave.
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