SANAA: Yemeni police shot dead Tuesday seven Shiite rebel activists who were attempting to storm the government headquarters in an escalation of demonstrations, a protest organizer said.

The incident comes after rebel chief Abdulmalik Al-Huthi vowed to step up protests.

Activists have been camped out in the capital for weeks in a campaign to bring down the government and secure greater representation in state institutions.

Thousands of them marched toward the city center from the so-called Change Square, epicenter of the 2011 uprising, which the rebels have made a major focus of their protest.

Some activists blocked the main thoroughfares, while others marched on government headquarters, witnesses said.

They were met by anti-riot police who fired tear gas, water cannon and live rounds, “killing seven of them and wounding dozens,” activist Khaled Al-Madani told AFP.

An Interior Ministry official confirmed that police had stopped protesters, who “tried to storm... the premises of the council of ministers,” in a statement on the official Saba news agency.

AFP could not independently verify the Huthi toll.

On Sunday, the rebels said two demonstrators were shot dead and around 40 were wounded in clashes with police special forces near the interior ministry, where the rebels have been expanding their sit-in and blocking a main road leading to the airport.

The next day, the chief of police special forces was replaced.

Huthi protesters have forced shut the ministries of electricity and telecommunications, and rebels Monday prevented government vehicles from entering or leaving the capital.

Speaking late Monday, the Huthi commander vowed that “we will continue our escalation,” while saying “negotiations will continue.”

So far, Ansarullah has rejected overtures from President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi in offering a new prime minister and reducing a disputed fuel price hike.

Both concessions were core demands of the Huthis who launched their protest on August 18, after battling loyalist forces for months for control of key cities north of Sanaa.