Security forces fire on protesters in southern Yemen

[News_Editor]

Security forces fire on protesters in southern Yemen

2011-07-14 05:02:13 GMT+7 (ICT)

SANAA (BNO NEWS) -- Security forces on Wednesday fired live bullets and tear gas to disperse an anti-government demonstration demanding the ouster of the regime in Yemen's southern province of Taiz.

The Yemen Post reported that tens of thousands of protesters urged the formation of a transitional council and condemned the military operations in the province. According to Xinhua news agency, at least ten protesters were wounded when police intercepted the march and opened fire.

The restive southern province of Taiz, about 200 km (124 miles) south of Sanaa, has seen an increase in violence in the past few weeks after armed tribal people flooded into the city to defend the freedom square, where hundreds of thousands of people have been conducting an anti-government sit-in. Many civilians and soldiers have been killed and injured, while many families have been displaced.

There were also reports that regime militias have been active arresting and kidnapping organizers and activists at the freedom square.

Last week, President Ali Abdullah Saleh said in his first speech since being seriously injured in an attack that he welcomed "power sharing with the opposition."

Saleh, 69, was wounded along with other government officials in the bomb attack that hit the mosque of the presidential palace in Sanaa on June 3. They were hospitalized in Riyadh for treatment the following day.

Protesters have continually demanded the resignation of government leaders and President Saleh, who has ruled the country for 32 years. Violence has continued escalating after Saleh threatened with civil war after refusing, for the third time, to sign a power transfer deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on May 22.

The GCC-proposed plan included guarantees that Saleh will not be prosecuted after his resignation within 30 days from the acceptance date. It also called for holding presidential elections within two months from the date of Saleh's departure as well as the establishment of a new government within 90 days.

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