35 Yemeni protesters injured in Taizz

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/179861.html

Forces loyal to Yemen's unpopular President Ali Abdullah Saleh have reportedly wounded at least 35 anti-government protesters in the southwestern city of in Taizz.

Medical sources said on Saturday that one wounded protesters is in critical condition, a Press TV correspondent reported.

One report said that attackers had opened fire on demonstrators from rooftops.

Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of Taizz on Saturday, calling on Saleh to step down.

In a popular revolution that began in late January, hundreds of thousands of people have been staging regular demonstrations in Yemen's major cities. The public have been calling for an end to corruption and unemployment and demanding Saleh's ouster.

The president has been in office for nearly 33 years with several opposition members arguing that his long-promised political and economic reforms have never materialized.

Some 40 percent of Yemenis live on USD 2 a day or less and one third is wrestling with chronic hunger.

At least 300 protesters have been killed and many others injured during clashes with riot police and armed forces loyal to ruler since the beginning of the anti-regime protests, local reports say.

Addressing a crowd of his supporters in the capital, Sana'a, on Friday, Saleh lashed out at the opposition protesters, calling them law-breakers and stressed that the military -- which is under his command -- would do anything “to protect its institution."