Taizz: At least two people have been killed in violent clashes between anti-government protesters and forces loyal to Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh in the southern Yemeni city of Taizz. The overnight shelling by Saleh’s forces continued until the early hours of Wednesday morning as civilian homes in several parts of the city were targeted by tanks and mortar fire, media reports said. The assault came after thousands of protesters took to the streets in the southwestern city of Dhamar on Tuesday to demand an end to foreign interference in the volatile country. The demonstrators condemned Saudi Arabia and the US for attempts to smother their revolution.
Similar rallies have been held in other cities across Yemen since early June.
In a popular revolution that began in late January, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis have been taking part in regular mass demonstrations in the nation’s major cities. Potesters’ demands include an end to rampant government corruption and unemployment, and the ouster of the country’s despotic ruler Ali Abudullah Saleh.
Hundreds of protesters have been killed and many more have fallen injured since Yemen’s popular uprising began in January as a result of the brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters by military forces and bands of thugs loyal to Saleh’s dictatorship.
Saleh has been ruling Yemen for nearly 33 years, with numerous opposition figures arguing that his long-promised political and economic reforms have never materialized and have merely been used as a deceptive tactic.
