Unrest in Yemen intensified on Tuesday night when at least two protesters were shot dead during a street battle between pro- and anti-government demonstrators at the gates of Sana'a University.

The fatalities were the first in the capital after 12 days of anti-government protests that have swept across the country, and follow uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
Medics at the university said 21 people, many of them teenagers, were wounded when a mob of supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh broke through a police line and fired at protesters with AK47 assault rifles as well as pistols. Witnesses said the Balaataja (pro-government thugs) fired weapons into the air before turning on the protesters and shooting at random into the crowd.
Protesters claim that these gangs are being paid by the government to attack them, but Yemeni authorities deny this.
“Who will protect us? They were shooting at us and the police just disappeared. Where can we go?” said Faisal Al-Ahmed, a 22-year-old business student, cupping a handful of empty bullet shells.
A crowd of around 3,000 Yemenis, mainly students and young professionals camped out in tents at the university entrance, are calling for an end to Saleh's 32-year rule. Until Tuesday their sit-in had been a peaceful, and at times jovial, affair with students singing and dancing, and women and children distributing food and blankets.
(Source: The Guardian)
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