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Blasts rock Yemen cities

SANAA, Yemen, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Explosions and gunfire were reported in Yemen's capital and elsewhere in the politically restive Middle Eastern country, officials said.

An Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Chinese news agency Xinhua mortar shells and heavy gunfire erupted near the ministry's headquarters in downtown Sanaa.

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Xinhua said residents reported hearing "a string of explosions" near a military base and the residential compound of Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Witnesses said four blasts were heard across Aden, including two that rocked government security offices, CNN reported. No casualties were reported in the explosions but residents said a child was shot to death by security forces reacting to the attack, the U.S. news network said.

It wasn't known what group was responsible for the attacks.

Military sources said Saudi Arabia had dispatched a convoy of armored vehicles into Yemen to help quell the violence that has targeted the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh for months, The Yemen Post reported. Citing a NewsYemen.net report, the Post said witnesses saw one civilian killed and at least 15 others hurt when a bomb exploded in a crowded market in Mabar in Dhamar province Wednesday.

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Voice of America reported Wednesday Yemeni troops had killed a dozen militants in the country's southern region.

The Post said there were massive anti-government demonstrations across Yemen Wednesday, including Taiz and Shabwa provinces. The newspaper said the newly formed executive board of the national council of the revolutionary forces said it had agreed with Vice President Hadi to call for early presidential elections and President Saleh to transfer powers to his deputy.

The newspaper said medical officials said at least seven civilians had died and a few hundred were injured in government air attacks Tuesday.

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