An official at the Ministry of Interior told media outlets that armed tribal supporters of Mohammed Abdullah al-Qawsi, the Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry, stormed on Sunday night the ministry headquarters in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, stressing that they [the gunmen] are now in full control of it.

Al-Qawsi, one of the biggest allies of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, was dismissed earlier this year from his post as the commander of the Rescue Division and was reassigned as the Interior Ministry Undersecretary, an administrative post of little importance.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, estimated the number of tribesmen who have taken control of the ministry at 100, pointing out that they are all from al-Qawsi tribe of al-Hada, one of the most powerful clans in Yemen.

The official, however, did not say why al-Qawsi spearheaded his followers to storm the ministry building, located in the northern part of Sana'a where most of the clashes between Saleh loyal forces and al-Ahmar tribal gunmen took place last year, or if clashes took place between the ministry guards and the tribesmen.

Over the past years, Al-Qawsi used his tribal followers for many times to assert his power. Also, he once used them to help him rebel against a republican decree dismissing him from the command of the Rescue Division, a security body charged with maintaining order in the cities.