Nine injured as protests continue in Yemen

Nine injured as protests continue in Yemen

Sana'a- Feb 25, 2011- At least nine people were wounded after security forces opened fire at anti-government protesters in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden Friday, witnesses said.

They told DPA that thousands of protesters took to the streets after the weekly Friday prayers in the city's Khur Maksar and Mualla neighborhoods, shouting slogans demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Seven people were wounded after police opened fire at demonstrators in Khur Maksar, a journalist said by phone. He said one of the victims was in critical condition.

In Mualla, two protesters were injured, a witness said.

Some 10,000 protesters gathered in the southern city of Taiz, some 250 km south of Sana'a, in an anti-government rally, witnesses said. No violence was reported there, however.

Meanwhile tens of thousands of government backers and anti-government protesters attended separate rallies in the capital Sana'a.

Around 50,000 supporters of Saleh attended a rally in Tahrir Square in the centre of the city chanting slogans like 'The people want Ali' and 'Ali, Oh creator of unity, you are in our hearts'.

They held up banners reading: 'Yes to stability and dialogue, no to chaos.'

Around 20,000 Saleh opponents gathered outside Sana'a University campus shouting 'The people want the president to fall'.

Source: (DPA)