Yemen forces kill 5 schoolgirls

Anti-government protesters demand the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh during a rally outside Sana'a University on March 16, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170328.html

Yemeni security forces have shot and killed five schoolgirls in the country's southwest as protesters continue their bid to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The incident occurred on Wednesday in Taiz, 200 km (125 miles) south of capital Sana'a. Several female students were also injured when Saleh loyalists pelted them with stones to prevent them from joining anti-government rallies, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Earlier in the day, Yemeni forces killed an anti-government protester and injured 200 others in the Red Sea city of al-Hudaydah where pro-government forces resorted to live and rubber bullets, tear gas, clubs and daggers to disperse protests, medics said.

The impoverished Arabian Peninsula state has been hit by weeks of anti-regime protests calling for an end to the 32-year rule of President Saleh.

Several opposition members argue that his long-promised reforms have not materialized and the opposition and religious leaders have envisioned a roadmap for the president's departure before the end of 2011.

But Saleh has vowed not to ease his grip on power until the end of his term in 2013.

Anti-regime protests in Yemen began last month inspired by the recent revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia which sent shockwaves sweeping through the Arab world.

At least 40 people have been killed in clashes between pro-government forces and protesters in Yemen.