SANAA // A Yemeni woman was shot dead yesterday and 10 others wounded when forces loyal to the outgoing president Ali Abdullah Saleh opened fire on tens of thousands of protesters in Taiz.
Rawiyah Abdulrehman was shot by a sniper on a rooftop as she was taking part in a demonstration demanding the removal of the military forces from the streets of Taiz, medics said.
The shooting came a day after relative calm in Taiz, which has seen anti-Saleh protests swell following orders by Abdurabu Mansur Hadi, Yemen's interim leader, to remove military forces from the city.
Heavy shelling and clashes in Taiz killed about 28 people in three days ending on Saturday, medics and activists said. At least two people were killed on Sunday.
The attack on the protest also came a day after Mr Hadi formed a 14-member committee to oversee the military after the recent fighting threatened to wreck the power transition deal that Mr Saleh signed last month. The committee, which is led by Mr Hadi, includes defected military commanders as well as those loyal to Mr Saleh.
The committee is designed to stop violence, remove all troops and gunmen from the streets as well as restructure and unite military forces. The opposition coalition, which said it would not form a unity government without the military committee, welcomed the appointment.
