Yemeni Tanks Block Streets in Taiz, Aden Before Planned Protests

May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Tanks from Yemen's armed forces rolled into the southern cities of Taiz and Aden in anticipation of marches to the local presidential palaces, activists said.

Troops were deployed in Taiz following several hours of power outages last night and armed men in plainclothes patrolled the city streets today, activist Bushra al-Maktari said by telephone. In Aden, the military fired warning shots in several districts to discourage demonstrations, Fawaz Sharabi, a witness, said by phone.

Protests in Yemen demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule are in their third month. At least 100 people have been killed by security forces in demonstrations that began on Feb. 11, according to the Arabic Sisters Forum for Human Rights in the capital, Sana'a.

The uprising has continued after the government and the Joint Meetings Parties failed to sign a Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered plan last month. Under the terms of the plan, Saleh would have ceded power within a month of signing the deal and would be granted immunity from prosecution.