Two women, child among 9 killed in Yemen's Taez

SANAA: Forces loyal to Yemeni President Abdullah Saleh shelled the country's second largest city Taez early on Friday, killing nine people, among them two women and a child, a medic and witnesses said.

"The bombing killed nine people this morning (Friday), all of them civilians," the medical source said, adding that two women and a nine-year-old child were among those killed and that dozens of other people were wounded.

Security forces began operations shortly after midnight (2100 GMT Thursday) in the area of Freedom Square, where demonstrators had rallied to call for the fall of the regime, witnesses told.

Residents said the shelling intensified on Friday morning, focusing on the neighbourhoods of al-Rawdah and Zeid al-Mushky in Taez, which have been at the forefront of anti-regime protests. (AFP)