Yemeni government forces and opponents clashed today, a day after the UN Security Council urged president Ali Abdullah Saleh to sign a deal requiring him to step down in exchange for immunity.
Yemen said today it was ready to "deal positively" with the UN resolution, which also condemned the Yemeni government's crackdown on protesters demanding that Mr Saleh end his 33 years in office.
Medics and witnesses said 10 people were killed and dozens were wounded in the clashes in the capital Sanaa.
Rocket propelled grenades, mortars and automatic weapons were used in the Soufan and al-Nahda neighbourhoods in northern Sanaa, where members of a breakaway military force opposed to Saleh and tribal fighters are based.
They said at least five people were killed in overnight clashes between forces loyal to Mr Saleh and soldiers led by Ali Mohsen al-Ahmer, a general who broke ranks with the government after protesters began almost daily demonstrations in February.
Gunmen loyal to tribal leader Sadeq al-Ahmar were also involved in the fighting.
Witnesses said thick, black smoke rose over the neighbourhoods and that many buildings had been destroyed.
Yemeni officials said government forces retook the upper house of parliament building in northern Sanaa, after it was occupied by opposition troops.
In a statement issued last night, General al-Ahmar's Free Yemen Army accused the president of ordering an attack on northern Sanaa the previous night. He said that attack had lasted for more than 20 hours and had killed 21 people, including eight civilians and 13 soldiers.
The Yemeni government insists Free Yemen Army forces started the fighting.
Mr Saleh says he will only hand over power into "safe hands".
Responding to the decision made by the UN Security Council last night, a Yemeni government source said Sanaa remained committed to the Gulf peace plan, and called for international help to ensure its implementation.
"The government of the Yemeni government is willing to deal positively with U.N. Security Council resolution 2014, for it conforms with the Yemeni government efforts to put an end to the political crisis on the basis of the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) initiative," a Yemeni government source said in a statement.
The resolution called on both the government and opposition to "immediately reject the use of violence".
Mr Saleh has backed down three times from signing the Gulf initiative, which came following months of protests.
The statement urged Gulf Arab states, Europe and other members of the international community to help resume talks between the Yemeni government and opposition parties to agree on a mechanism for implementing the GCC accord.
The White House said in a statement that the resolution was a "united and unambiguous signal to president Saleh that he must respond to the aspirations of the Yemeni people by transferring power immediately."
The United States fears that further violence in Yemen will embolden Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to launch strikes on the region and beyond.