Yemen security forces kill protesters

By Sudarsan Raghavan and Ali Almujahed,
WashPost
Monday, April 4, 8:26 PM

SANAA, Yemen — Yemeni security forces and pro-government loyalists opened fire on protesters marching in two cities Monday, killing at least 12 and wounding scores, according to witnesses.

The violence was the deadliest attack on demonstrators, inspired by the populist rebellions of Egypt and Tunisia, since March 18, when snipers loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh shot dead at least 52 protesters in the capital, Sanaa. That event triggered wide-scale defections of Saleh’s top allies from the military, tribes and government.

In the southern city of Taiz, according to witnesses and televised images, police clutching guns, tear-gas canisters and batons targeted unarmed protesters marching toward a provincial government building.

Many of the victims were seriously injured, and medical officials expected the death toll to rise. The injured were taken to a makeshift hospital, and images on local television showed men, who were apparently tear-gassed, on the floor being treated by nurses.

(More here.)