Sanaa: Yemeni security forces have opened fire on anti-government protesters in four cities, killing at least five people and wounding scores, medics say.
At least one person died in the capital, Sanaa, when troops shot at a crowd of tens of thousands that was marching towards the cabinet building.
Two protesters were earlier killed in the city of Taiz, while one was shot dead in Hudaida and another in Damar.
Meanwhile, reports suggest the country is facing a growing fuel crisis.
For weeks, tribesmen have been blockading oil refineries in Maarib province, in support of the demonstrations.
It has made petrol scarce and is costing the government about $3 million a day in blocked exports, according to the Reuters news agency.
More than 140 people have been killed by security forces since protesters began demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in January.
Many Yemenis have lost patience with the stalled negotiations to end Saleh’s 33-year rule, and they took to the streets across the country once more on Wednesday to demand he step down immediately.
Tens of thousands marched from Sanaa University – a focal point of the unrest – towards the cabinet building in the centre of the capital. When they got to within 200m, security personnel and plainclothes gunmen opened fire, witnesses said.
At least one person died and at least 40 were wounded, two critically, medics said. Police reportedly stopped ambulances from approaching the area.
“This is a massacre, they are opening fire randomly,” Mohammed al-Qibli, a leader of a youth protest movement told al-Jazeera.
“The scene is terrifying in every sense of the word.”
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