YEMEN: Child slain during protest

Summary: A child has been killed by security forces in an anti-government protest after protesters refused to disperse.

[SANN'A] - A child was killed and six other people were wounded on Thursday when security forces shot at protesters in Yemeni city of Taiz, a medical team said.

Yemen's Republican Guards started shooting and fired tear gas at demonstrators after they refused to disperse and end a march, witnesses said.

The protesters railed against tough government actions against peaceful marchers and a failed assassination attempt on a senior opposition leader in Sanaa on Wednesday, witnesses said.

Yemen has been wracked by widespread civil strife, country-wide demonstrations against the government and insurgent activity.

The nation's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is the object of the protesters, who want him to leave his position. Saleh is being treated in Saudi Arabia for wounds he received last month in a failed assassination attempt.

Further Information: 

• YEMEN: Conflict generating more child soldiers (21 July 2011) 
  
• YEMEN: 66 children killed in Yemen (Arabic) (30 June 2011) 
• YEMEN: UNICEF condemns child victims of State violence (20 April 2011) 
• YEMEN: Child soldiers used by armed forces (18 April 2011) 
• CRIN editorial on Children's Rights and Freedom of Expression 
• CRIN editorial on Children's right to freedom of association
• CRIN's Forms of Violence page on **State violence**
• More on children's rights in Yemen