Forces loyal to Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh kill at least 12 people and injure dozens more besides abducting female protesters

Forces loyal to Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh kill at least 12 people and injure dozens more besides abducting female protesters during their attacks on demonstrations in the capital Sana'a.

Mohammed al-Qubati, the director of a field hospital at the Change Square in Sana'a, said on Tuesday that a dozen had been killed and over 70 wounded during the crackdown on the protests demanding Saleh's resignation, the Associated Press reported.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the city, led by shirtless young men with the words "Leave ... you butcher" scrawled across their chests in reference to Saleh.

Regime troops attacked the protesters with live ammunition and tear gas canisters.

According to an activist, troopers from the elite Republican Guard, which is led by Saleh's son Ahmed, abducted four female protesters, who were leading the main demonstration.

Abdel-Rahman Berman, activist with Yemen-based National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, said a team dispatched by the organization saw regime forces and thugs abducting the females as well as some wounded demonstrators in a 'shameful and criminal way.'

Similar demonstrations were also held elsewhere in the country, including the major southern cities of Aden and Taizz.