Nine Yemenis were killed, as forces loyal to embattled president Ali Abdullah Saleh shelled the country’s second largest city Taez early on Friday.

Nine Yemenis were killed, as forces loyal to embattled president Ali Abdullah Saleh shelled the country's second largest city Taez early on Friday.

A medic and witnesses said that two women and a nine-year child were among the killed.
"The bombing killed nine people this morning (Friday), all of them civilians," the medical source said, adding that dozens of other people were wounded.

Security forces began operations shortly after midnight (2100 GMT Thursday) in the area of Freedom Square, where demonstrators had rallied to call for the fall of the regime, witnesses told AFP.
Residents said the shelling intensified on Friday morning, focusing on the neighbourhoods of al-Rawdah and Zeid al-Mushky in Taez, which have been at the forefront of anti-regime protests.

The escalation in violence coincides with the return of the UN envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, to revive efforts aimed at resolving the country's political turmoil.

Benomar, who arrived in the capital Sanaa on Thursday, began meeting with several government and opposition figures to discuss recent developments and the best means for resolving the current crisis.
"My visit came to reach a political reconciliation and to sign the Gulf initiative" by which President Saleh will step down in return for immunity from prosecution for himself and his family, Benomar told reporters upon his arrival.