‏Gunmen loyal to ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh attacked on Saturday the International Airport of Sana'a with machine guns and rifles, local security officials told Yemen Post.

‏Armed tribesmen from Saleh's village and soldiers in uniform on military pickups mounted with machine guns opened a barrage of fire on Sana'a airport tower, said one official on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.

‏They surrounded the airport for hours before they forced its closure.

‏He added that the armed tribesmen are thought to be loyal to Saleh and his half brother in protest over the latest decrees issued by Hadi.

‏This comes only a day after President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi dismissed dozens of Saleh's relatives from their key military posts.

‏Ali Saleh al-Ahmar, Saleh's half brother and the commander of the Air Force was reported to refuse to obey Hadi's order of his dismissal.

‏He set some conditions to obey the order including the dismissal of Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, the commander of the First Armoured Division and northwest military region.

‏Mohammed al-Ahmar was appointed as the assistant of the Minister of Defense, an administrative post of little importance.

‏He has remained defiant in the face of months of tenacious protests calling for his removal.

‏The General People Congress, Saleh's party, said in a statement that Hadi's decrees has only targeted one side of the conflict.

‏Meanwhile, Hadi decrees were met with a huge amount of support from the whole international community as it was the first step towards implementing the second phase of the GCC-brokered power transfer deal signed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh in November last year.

‏It was Hadi's first move to purge the military institutions of Saleh's family who are acting like a gang.

Electricity crisis had led to the paralysis of factories, laboratories, workshops and many service sectors, pushing further Yemenis to unemployment.