Security forces shot at anti-government demonstrators in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, last night, killing one man and injuring ten others. At least 50 other people suffered the effects of teargas.
The violence began when Khalwan tribesmen tried to carry tents into the area around the main university where 2,000 people have been camped for three weeks amid growing calls for President Saleh to step down.
Soldiers unexpectedly opened fire on protesters, many of whom were seated peacefully on the ground. “The soldiers tried to stop people bringing tents in,” said Mahammed Yasser. “First they [the soldiers] fired warning shots into the air and then teargas into the crowd. Then they shot at the people.”
Dr Abdualmalek Alyosofi, who treated the protesters, said: “Ten men have been shot, one in the eye. He is in a serious condition.”
Volunteer doctors treated the activists in a mosque next to the university. It is the first time that government forces have opened fire on protesters in the capital. Plain-clothes, pro-Saleh loyalists previously shot eight activists, killing one, in two attacks on anti-government demonstrators last month. At least 24 people have died at the hands of government troops in the southern port city of Aden.
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Protests started in Yemen six weeks ago, with daily demonstrations since the fall of President Mubarak in Egypt on February 11. In the last week demonstrators calling for an end to Mr Saleh’s 32-year rule have spread to 20 of Yemen’s 21 provinces.
Political dialogue between the coalition of opposition parties, the Joint Meeting Parties, and the ruling General People’s Congress party broke down last Saturday as the president rejected a five-point plan put forward by the JMP.