Medics carry an injured anti-government protester at a makeshift clinic outside Sanaa University March 8, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

SANAA, Yemen - The Yemeni government escalated its efforts to stop mass protests calling for the president's ouster, with soldiers firing rubber bullets and tear gas at students camped at a university in the capital in a raid that left at least 98 people wounded, officials said.

The army on Tuesday stormed the Sanaa University campus hours after thousands of inmates rioted at the central prison in the capital, taking a dozen guards hostage and calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. At least one prisoner was killed and 80 people were wounded as the guards fought to control the situation, police said.

Yemen has been rocked by weeks of protests against Saleh, inspired by recent uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia that drove out those nations' leaders. Saleh, a key US ally in the campaign against al-Qaida, has been in power for 32 years. In a sign that the protests are gaining traction, graffiti calling for Saleh to step down surfaced on Tuesday in his birthplace, village of Sanhan, for the first time since the protests began.

Students at Sanaa University have been sleeping on campus since mid-February, shortly after the start of the protests calling for Saleh to step down.

Associated Press