Troops fire on Yemen protest, 6 killed, 30 wounded

[April 04, 2011]  SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Yemeni troops opened fire on crowds of protesters demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, killing six and wounding more than 30 on Monday in the second straight day of clashes in a southern city, witnesses and medical officials said.

The bloodshed in the city of Taiz further stoked the more than month-old uprising against Saleh's 32-year-rule. The opposition has been holding continual protest camps in main squares of cities around the country, and on Monday new demonstrations in solidarity with the Taiz protesters erupted in several places.

The violence began when thousands of protesters marched through Taiz toward Freedom Square, where demonstrators have been camped out. As the march passed the governor's headquarters, troops stationed there blocked the procession, and clashes broke out, with some protesters throwing stones, witnesses said.

Troops on nearby rooftops opened fire with live ammunition on the crowd and the marchers then turned to besiege the governor's headquarters, said Bushra al-Maqtara, an opposition activist in Taiz, and other witnesses.

At least six protesters were killed and more than 30 wounded, some with gunshots to the head and chest, said Zakariya Abdul-Qader, a doctor at a clinic set up by protesters in Freedom Square. Other doctors at the clinic confirmed the figure.

The military has clamped down on the city of nearly half a million, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) south of the capital, Sanaa. For a second day, tanks and armored vehicles blocked entrances to the city to prevent outsiders from joining the protests. They also surrounded Freedom Square, bottling up the thousands in the protest camp there and arresting anyone who tries to exit.

Saleh's top security official in Taiz, Abdullah Qiran, to oversee security in Taiz, is accused by demonstrators of orchestrating some of the most brutal crackdowns against demonstrators, particularly in the southern port town of Aden, where he was previously stationed until his transfer several weeks ago.

Marches in solidarity with the Taiz protesters erupted in the cities of Mukalla, in the east, and Hodeida, on Yemen's western Red Sea coast. In Hodeida, protesters tried to march on a presidential palace in the city but were blocked by security forces, who opened fire with tear gas and live ammunition, said activist Abdel-Hafiz al-Abbasi.

He said three people were wounded.

[Associated Press; By AHMED AL-HAJ]

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