Hundreds of thousands protest in Yemen

Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters marched Sunday in Yemen's capital Sanaa to press President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign amid escalated tension as both the government forces and the defected army are deploying more troops in major cities to cope with any possible clashes, Xinhua reported.

At least four protesters were injured by gunshot of police when the latter tried to force hundreds of thousands of demonstrators to return to their epicenter square in Sanaa on Sunday.

Two armored vehicle of the defected army, which sided with the protesters and vowed to protect them, then rushed to the scene near the compound of Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and fired to the air, according to eyewitnesses.

Yemen has been gripped by a political crisis since late January when protests demanding the end of Saleh's 33-year rule erupted.