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Yemeni forces opened fire on demonstrators in three cities on Wednesday, killing at least four and wounding scores in escalating bloodshed that could ramp up public fury at the president's refusal to step down.
In the capital Sanaa, forces fired on a crowd of tens of thousands marching to the cabinet building. At least one demonstrator died, according to a doctor at the scene, and dozens were wounded.
In the industrial center Taiz, snipers killed two protesters and dozens were injured by gunfire, tear gas and bat-wielding plainclothes security men. Protesters retaliated by torching a police building and sealing off government buildings.
In the Red Sea port city of Hudaida, one protester was killed when security forces opened fire after marchers tried to force their way into a government building, witnesses said.
The bloodshed is likely to fuel public rage ahead of Friday, traditionally the main day of unrest during a three-month-old revolt against President Ali Abdullah Saleh inspired by uprisings across the Arab world.
Crowds have lost patience with stalled negotiations to end Saleh's 33-year rule, and violence is surging in a country where half the population owns a gun.
"This is a massacre, they are opening fire randomly," Mohammed al-Qibly, a leader of a youth protest movement in Sanaa, told Al Jazeera television. "The scene is terrifying in every sense of the word."
Witnesses in the capital said some 40 people were shot and protesters stopped to help treat the wounded, who were rushed away in private vehicles as the gunfire crackled.
In the capital Sanaa, forces fired on a crowd of tens of thousands marching to the cabinet building. At least one demonstrator died, according to a doctor at the scene, and dozens were wounded.
In the industrial center Taiz, snipers killed two protesters and dozens were injured by gunfire, tear gas and bat-wielding plainclothes security men. Protesters retaliated by torching a police building and sealing off government buildings.
In the Red Sea port city of Hudaida, one protester was killed when security forces opened fire after marchers tried to force their way into a government building, witnesses said.
The bloodshed is likely to fuel public rage ahead of Friday, traditionally the main day of unrest during a three-month-old revolt against President Ali Abdullah Saleh inspired by uprisings across the Arab world.
Crowds have lost patience with stalled negotiations to end Saleh's 33-year rule, and violence is surging in a country where half the population owns a gun.
"This is a massacre, they are opening fire randomly," Mohammed al-Qibly, a leader of a youth protest movement in Sanaa, told Al Jazeera television. "The scene is terrifying in every sense of the word."
Witnesses in the capital said some 40 people were shot and protesters stopped to help treat the wounded, who were rushed away in private vehicles as the gunfire crackled.
