Thousands of women calling for the ouster of Yemen's longtime ruler have been attacked by police with sticks and rocks, setting off a furious battle with male protesters that has left several people hurt, activists say.
The women were marching down a main street in the southern town of Taiz shouting "peaceful! peaceful!" when they were attacked, activist Ghazi al-Samei said.
Three of the young men suffered serious gunshot wounds when police opened fire, protester Bushra al-Maqtari told AP by phone.
She said another 200 or more people suffered breathing problems caused by inhaling tear gas.
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Army tanks and armoured cars stopped other demonstrators from entering Taiz, the site of some of the largest and angriest protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule.
Yemeni police also killed one anti-government demonstrator and wounded scores more on Sunday, as the embattled leader called for an end to protests demanding he step down.
The security forces shot dead a young man who was tearing up a poster of Saleh during a demonstration in Taez, some 200km south of the capital, Sanaa, medics and witnesses said.
Protesters have been camping out in main squares throughout Yemen for weeks, demanding Saleh immediately leave power after 30 years.
The president has offered to resign by year's end and says leaving without a negotiated transition would lead to chaos.
On Saturday, opposition groups demanded he hand power to his vice-president and set up committees to thrash out constitutional reform and elections.
The president's spokesman, Ahmed al-Sufi, said the president was only "ready to discuss the peaceful handover of power according to the constitution".
Saleh's top security official, Abdullah Qiran, in Taiz to oversee security, is accused by demonstrators of orchestrating some of the most brutal crackdowns against demonstrators, particularly in the southern port town of Aden, where he was previously stationed.
There, some 48 demonstrators were killed over a period of weeks by security forces and Saleh supporters armed with sticks, knives and guns.
At least 97 demonstrators have been killed in Yemen since protests began on February 11, according to the Yemeni rights group, Shakayek.
About 49 were killed several weeks ago when snipers on rooftops opened fire at demonstrators in Sanaa.
