Supporters of Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh tried to break up a demonstration by opponents of the government today and shots were fired as unrest in the country entered its ninth straight day.
As many as 50 government supporters tried to disrupt the demonstration by more than 1,000 Saleh opponents gathered outside Sanaa University calling on the president to quit.
One Saleh supporter fired shots from an assault rifle, but there were no reported casualties and the government supporters soon dispersed, while the protesters continued their demonstration.
Both sides fired weapons yesterday in protests outside the university - the first reported use of firearms by demonstrators.
Several protesters were hurt in those lashes, while five people were wounded, apparently by stray bullets, in the southern town of Sheikh Othman.
Five people were killed in protests against Mr Saleh's 32-year rule on Friday. He blamed a "foreign agenda" and a "conspiracy against Yemen, its security and stability" for the string of protests against poverty, unemployment and corruption which have gained momentum since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
Mr Saleh, a US ally against a Yemen-based al-Qaeda wing that has mounted attacks at home and abroad, is struggling to end month-old protests flaring across his impoverished country.
Yemen also faces a southern separatist revolt and is trying to maintain a shaky truce with northern Shia rebels.
The leader of the secessionist Southern Movement was arrested in the southern port city of Aden by an "armed military group" today and was taken to an unknown location, his family said.
Hasan Baoum was arrested in a hospital where he was receiving treatment, his youngest son Fadi Hasan Baoum said.
North and south Yemen formally united in 1990 but some in the south, home to many of Yemen's oil facilities, say northerners have since seized resources and discriminated against them.
Reuters