Twelve die in latest Yemen attacks

Another 190 were injured as about 100,000 opponents of the government filled a square at the centre of the uprising on Wednesday, spilling into the streets around the state TV building.

Security forces, including members of the elite Republican Guard, fired live ammunition and tear gas into the crowd to break it up. Snipers were seen on nearby rooftops aiming at the crowd.

Yemenis in at least 18 cities and towns had just launched a civil disobedience campaign in an escalation of the two-month-old uprising to bring down long-serving president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Shops, schools and government offices were shuttered.

The closures are planned twice-weekly until Saleh steps down, activists said.

Inspired by revolts across the Arab world, Yemenis have staged near-daily protests calling for the ousting of Saleh, the country’s ruler of 32 years.

At times, millions have flooded the streets of the capital and other cities and towns. The president has clung to power despite the street protests and defections by many loyalists, including his tribesmen, military officers and senior officials.

Security forces and Saleh supporters have killed more than 130 people since the unrest erupted in early February.

Chaos ensued after government forces opened fire in Sanaa yesterday, sending protesters scattering in all directions to escape sniper fire and security agents hurling rocks.

Activists said many of the security forces shooting into the crowd were dressed in civilian clothing.

Ahmed al-Maqtari, a doctor helping to treat the wounded, said the injuries included wounds from live ammunition, rocks, and tasers.

Meanwhile units of the elite Republican Guard force in the southern port city of Aden clashed with anti-government demonstrators who were marking the anniversary of the 1994 outbreak of Yemen’s civil war that saw Saleh’s army suppress an attempt by the southerners to secede. One protester was killed and dozens were wounded in the clashes.