(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Saturday's raid was the latest attempt by security forces to quell growing unrest.
Protesters say police fired tear gas and live rounds in the southern port city of Aden, wounding three anti-government armless protesters.
Saleh declared on Friday a nationwide state of emergency and a curfew is set upon
armed people in all Yemeni provinces, after a violent crackdown on anti-government protests left at least 52 people dead and scores more wounded in the capital, Sanaa.
He said that the decision to impose the martial law was made by the country's National Security Council, but there was no immediate indication of how long it would last.
Yemeni security forces opened fire in attempts to prevent protesters from marching out of the square where they were gathered. Medical sources said the death toll was likely to rise.
Media correspondents in Sanaa reported that many protesters were shot in the head and neck; most of the injured were shot with live ammunition.
Medics at a nearby medical center said hundreds were injured; many in critical condition. One medic called the attack a "massacre".
Anti-government demonstrations were also held in other cities including Taiz, Ibb, Hodeidah, Aden, and Amran following Muslim midday prayers on Friday.
Government forces have previously used live fire, rubber bullets, and tear gas on anti-regime rallies, in the government's increasingly violent crackdown on protests.
Yemen, the Arabian peninsula state neighboring Saudi Arabia, has been hit by weeks of protests set in motion by uprisings in North Africa that toppled long-serving leaders in Tunisia and Egypt and spread to the Gulf states of Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
US Obama condemned the violence, and called for all sides to enter into “an open and transparent process that addresses the legitimate concerns of the Yemeni people”.
However, Yassin Said Noman, the president of Yemen’s coalition of opposition parties, said that Friday’s violence made negotiation impossible.
William Hague, UK foreign secretary, also condemned the violence, adding that “it would be completely unacceptable if it emerges that this violence or those responsible are sponsored or supported in any way by the Yemeni authorities.”
At a hospital close to Sana’a University, where protests have been taking place, dozens were gathered outside the gate as casualties were rushed in.
“Before we used to treat people for gas,” said Amir Mabrouk, a doctor who spoke above the groan of a stricken patient in the triage room. “Now there are gunshot wounds to the chest, neck and head.”
Abdulghani al-Iriyani, an analyst, suggested the regime might have planned Friday’s violence in order to thwart an initiative by Gulf countries to broker negotiations between the opposition and the government for a transfer of power. “They are not happy with mediation, that’s the only explanation”, Mr Iriyani said.
Despite violence and threats, anti-government protesters refuse to cease demonstrating until Saleh's removal.
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