Yemeni forces target town

SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni forces opened fire on a protest camp and killed more than 20 demonstrators Monday in the southern city of Taiz while government warplanes launched airstrikes on Zinjibar, a southern town seized by radical Islamists.

The new attempts to suppress the uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh with overwhelming force, following a weekend when high-level military defectors formed a united front in support of the protesters, all pointed to the longtime leader’s increasingly tenuous grip on power.

Early today, residents said clashes were in progress in Sanaa. There were no immediate details of whether there were casualties.

Saleh has responded to protesters who say they seek democratic reforms with a mix of promised concessions and bloody crackdowns, such as Monday’s attack in the city of Taiz that left at least 20 protesters dead. He has also long raised the specter of an Islamist takeover of Yemen to solicit international funds and rebuff calls that he stand down.

The death toll since Saturday rose to 34, a medic at al-Razi hospital said.