Death toll from clashes between anti-government protesters and police, government backers in the capital Sanaa on Wednesday rose to 12, and 160 protesters were injured, doctors said on Wednesday.

Anti-government protesters clash with police and government backers in Sanaa, capital of Yemen, April 27, 2011. Death toll from clashes between anti-government protesters and police, government backers in the capital Sanaa on Wednesday rose to 12, and 160 protesters were injured, doctors said on Wednesday. [Yin Ke/Xinhua]

"Police forces and government backers fired on a march of thousands of anti-government protesters near the Yemeni state television station, leaving 12 protesters dead and about 160 others injured, 18 of them were in critical condition after being hit with live bullets," two doctors accompanying the march told Xinhua.

"The clashes erupted on Wednesday evening after the police forces and government backers intercepted the march of thousands of protesters who passed by a square occupied by government backers near the Yemeni television station," eyewitnesses Mansour al-Jaradi and Ali al-Fakih told Xinhua.

The clashes were still going on as the police used live bullets, batons and tear gas against armless anti-government protesters, they said.

The protest march set off from Sanaa University to Al-Steen Street, passing by the television station.

"The protesters kept shouting slogans to express their rejection to the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council ) initiative that asked Saleh to leave within 30 days in return for immunity for him and his family members," eyewitnesses said.

The protesters demanded immediately ouster of Saleh and then prosecuting him along with his aids.

"After the clashes erupted, the anti-government protesters broke into the camp of government supporters and attacked them," another three eyewitnesses told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, the ruling party's website said that the protesters of the opposition Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) stormed a camp of the pro-government demonstrators near the state television station and attacked it, injuring eight government supporters.

Yemen has witnessed three-month-old anti-government protests demanding an immediate end to the 33-year rule of Saleh, undermining the security and stability of the country.