Yemeni troops killed two pro-protest gunmen and wounded two others Thursday in an ambush near Taez targeting militiamen deployed to protect anti-regime demonstrators, witnesses said.
The gunmen were part of a militia named “Eagles of Liberty” which was hastily formed from armed men and tribesmen to guard protests after security forces killed more than 50 in a crackdown on a sit-in last week in central Taez.
They were ambushed by soldiers loyal to embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Bir Pacha market at the Western entrance to Taez, Yemen’s second-largest city which is at the forefront of anti-Saleh protests.
