Yemen Protesters Killed in New Attacks, Medic Says
At least 17 protesters at an antigovernment protest died after being attacked early on Saturday, a doctor said, less than a day after state TV announced that President Ali Abdullah Saleh had returned to Yemen.
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Live ammunition and shelling claimed the protesters’ lives, the doctor said, adding that medics had difficulty reaching the victims because the attacks continued for hours throughout the night.
Protesters described a scene of panic early into the morning as mortar fire struck their sit-in site that stretched out from the gates of Sana University on Ring Road. Snipers from nearby buildings also were targeting the protesters.
Some of the youth protesters who have been camped out at the sit-in since February fled from their tents to seek refuge inside the gates of Sana’s Old University building, they said. Others fled the scene after the shelling stopped in the morning, for the first time in months, due to the violence.