Seven protesters hit by bullets in clashes in south Yemen: witnesses

At least seven anti-government protesters were injured by live bullets in clashes with gunmen in plainclothes on Saturday in the southern troubled province of Taiz, witnesses said.

The clashes took place in the epicenter of the protest sit-in in Jamal Street in downtown Taiz, where the forces tried to scatter the protesters as the latter responded with throwing stones, the witnesses said.

The province, some 200 km south of the capital Sanaa, also witnessed near-daily civil disobedience as shops, schools, private companies and banks were shut down at the request of the protest organizers to force Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power, the witnesses and protest organizers said.

Organized civil disobedience was also reportedly implemented Saturday in large parts of other major provinces of Aden, Lahj, Shabwa, Al-Bayda, Ibb and Al-Hodayda.

Three-month-long street protest and political deadlock between Saleh's ruling party and the opposition have almost brought the country on the verge of security and economic collapse.

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