As embattled Saleh called for dialogue and a ceasefire, battles raged between rival forces with Saleh troops launched deadly crackdown on a protest camp in Sanaa, killing more than a dozen of protesters.

As embattled Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh called for dialogue and a ceasefire, battles raged between rival forces with Saleh troops launched deadly crackdown on a protest camp in Sanaa, killing more than a dozen of protesters.

"Seventeen people were killed and 55 others were wounded" in the attack on Saturday, said Mohammed al-Qabati, a medic at the field hospital in Sanaa's Change Square.

Some of those killed were civilians, while others were soldiers from dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar's First Armoured Brigade, Qabati told AFP news agency.

For his part, Saleh has called for a truce and new negotiations, hours after his return from Saudi Arabia, where he spent three months recovering from injuries sustained during an attack on his palace on June 3.

“The president calls on all political and military parties to achieve a truce and a ceasefire," said a presidency official.
For Saleh, "there is no alternative to dialogue and negotiations to end the bloodshed and resolve the crisis", the official added.

Troops launched their attack a little after midnight on Friday. They opened fire with guns and also shelled Change Square, the focus of anti-government activity since it was first occupied by demonstrators in January.
Snipers also targeted people from buildings around the square, witnesses said.

The latest violence brought the number of those killed to 37 since Friday -- and to 132 since a fresh wave of violence hit the capital on Sunday.