(CNN) -- Yemeni security forces pounded the home of a tribal leader whose supporters are suspected of injuring top government officials, a flurry of shelling that left 10 people dead and 35 others wounded.
Meanwhile, there were mixed reports about the whereabouts of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who suffered a slight head injury during an attack Friday at the presidential palace in Sanaa.
A Saudi government source told CNN that Saleh arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. However, Yemeni Deputy Information Minister Mohammed Iljendi denied in a TV interview that the president was in Saudi Arabia.
Government forces targeted the dwelling of tribal leader Hamid al-Ahmar in the southern part of Sanaa on Friday, al-Ahmar spokesman Fawzi Al-Jaradi told CNN Saturday.
The attack came on the same day fighting intensified in the capital, with government and tribal forces trading fire.
Shells hammered the mosque at the palace of Saleh, killing an imam and several security guards and wounding Saleh and high-ranking senior officials -- all of whom were observing Friday Muslim prayers.
Demonstrations have unfolded in Yemeni cities for months between supporters of Saleh and anti-government forces who want the president to leave office.
In Sanaa's Change Square, tens of thousands of demonstrators congregated Saturday.
Another flashpoint town is Taiz, where protesters retook an iconic square in the center of the city on Saturday after government forces cleared it out last week. Eyewitnesses said security forces tried to disperse crowds of anti-government demonstrators by shooting at them and that at least two were injured.
Yemen's tough crackdown against peaceful protesters in Taiz prompted a denunciation on Saturday by Human Rights Watch, an international organization that monitors human rights violations.
"First the security forces kill and wound protesters, then they keep medical workers from treating the wounded and raze the protesters' camps to wipe out all traces of them," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
"Foreign countries need to respond. They should freeze the assets of the president and other top officials until these horrendous abuses stop and those responsible are brought to account," said Stork, whose group also called for the export bans on arms and security equipment to Yemen.
And now, fears of all-out civil war have spiked since, as government forces and Hashed tribesmen have been battling in the capital since late last month.
The presidential palace attack illustrates the escalating violence.
Those taken to Saudi Arabia for treatment include prime minister, Ali Mujawar; deputy prime ministers Rashad al-Alimi and Sadeq Amin Abu Rasand; Shura Council Chairman Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani; Parliament speaker Yahya Al-Raee; and Shura Council Chairman Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghan.
A Yemeni official who asked not to be named told CNN that Saleh was in the mosque when two "projectiles" were fired during Friday prayers. He confirmed the death of Sheikh Ali Mohsen al-Matari and four bodyguards. State-run news agency SABA, citing a source in Saleh's office, said three guards and the sheikh were killed.
In a televised speech Friday night, the president said the attack occurred as talks were taking place between him and affiliates of Sadeq al-Ahmar, the head of the Hashed tribe whose break with Saleh has been followed by spiraling violence.
Eyewitnesses, residents and government officials say Hashed tribesmen carried out Friday's attack on the presidential palace. But the spokesman for Sadeq al-Ahmar denied it.
"The Hashed tribesmen were not behind these attacks on the presidential palace and if they were, they would not deny it," according to Abdulqawi al-Qaisi.
According to the independent International Crisis Group, tensions escalated May 23 when fighting erupted between military forces controlled by "Saleh's son and nephews and fighters loyal to the pre-eminent sheikh of the powerful Hashed confederation, Sadeq al-Ahmar."
In his speech, the president said those behind Friday's attacks were not connected with the youth-led movement in Sanaa's Change Square. Rather, he said that "gangsters" perpetrated the strike as part of their bid to overthrow his government and destroy Yemen's economic achievements.
"I salute the armed forces everywhere and the courageous security forces who are keen on combating the attacks by a criminal gang that is acting outside of the law and is not affiliated with the youth's revolution present in Change Square," Saleh said.
Mohammed Qahtan, the spokesman for the Joint Meeting Parties, Yemen's largest opposition coalition, said that "the attack on the palace was pre-planned by President Saleh to make people forget about the attacks that he has committed over the last two weeks."
Qahtan said Saleh's forces have "bombarded most of the al-Ahmar family properties after the palace attack" and have killed hundreds over the past two weeks.
While Saleh has been unpopular among many inside his country, he has been a longtime ally of the United States in the war against terror.
The United States has counted on his government to be a bulwark against militants, including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, but it believes he should transfer power in order to maintain stability in the country.
White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said on Friday that John Brennan, the president's homeland security adviser, traveled to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for meetings with government officials to "discuss options to address the deteriorating situation" in Yemen.
Protesters upset over what they regard as political oppression and government corruption want Saleh step down. A deal to make that happen, fashioned by the regional Gulf Cooperation Council, has broken down.
Human Rights Watch has confirmed the deaths of 166 people in attacks by security forces and pro-government assailants on largely peaceful protesters since February.
It said at least 130 people have died in heavy fighting since May 23 between government and tribal forces in the Sanaa area , "but because of precarious security conditions," the group can't confirm how many were civilians.
Human Rights Watch said the United States, the European Union and Gulf states "have condemned serious human rights violations and stepped up calls for the president to relinquish power, but have stopped short of imposing arms embargoes and individual sanctions similar to those in place against officials in Syria and Libya." It also criticized the U.N. Security Council "for stalling" on addressing Yemen.
"After months of coordinated attacks by government forces and armed gangs on largely peaceful protesters in Yemen, the silence of the Security Council is deafening," Stork said. "It's past time for the Security Council to take steps to help protect the Yemeni people from unlawful attacks."CNN's Chris Lawrence, Jamie Crawford and Joe Sterling contributed to this report
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