Yemeni forces fired on demonstrators in three cities on Wednesday, killing at least nine people. Six demonstrators were killed in the capital city of Sanaa, two protesters were killed in Taiz, and one was killed in the port city of Hudaida. The death toll for the day may increase, sources say. Frustrations in the Gulf nation have been mounting as President Ali Abdullah Saleh refuses to end his 33-year rule and violence is rising in the country, where half of the population owns a gun. Countries, such as the United States and Saudi Arabia, have expressed fears that the violence could cause Yemen to descend into chaos which would allow al Qaeda’s Yemen-based branch to operate freely.
