Yemeni security forces opened fire on protesters in the capital, Sanaa, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens of others.

Officials say the shootings occurred as thousands of protesters marched through the city calling for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Reports say security officials used live rounds and tear gar to disperse the demonstration.

In other violence, an airstrike targeting militants in southeastern Yemen killed seven suspected al-Qaida members including the son of slain U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

Tribal leaders say Abdul Rahman al-Awlaki was killed Friday, along with four other members of the Awlaki clan, in a suspected U.S. strike in Shabwa province.

Earlier, Yemen's Defense Ministry said the media chief for al-Qaida's Yemen branch, Egyptian-born Ibrahim al-Bana, also died in the strike.

The elder Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike on September 30. He was wanted in both the United States and Yemen for his suspected role in terrorist attacks and ties to the Yemen-based group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Hours after the strike, in an apparent revenge attack suspected militants blew up a gas pipeline that transports gas from Marib province to the Balhaf port on the Arabian Sea. Officials say operations were halted in several parts of the terminal.