( CNN ) -- Embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh met Sunday with top military and security officials Sunday to talk about `` hostilities and crimes '' occurring in his country , the Yemeni State News Agency reported . The meeting came amid new reports of clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters in Taiz , where witnesses said tens of thousands of demonstrators had taken to the streets Sunday . Dozens of people were wounded as security forces opened fire on the demonstrators in an effort to disperse them , witnesses told CNN Sunday . Hundreds of protesters responded by throwing rocks at the security forces , which drew more gunfire from the troops , witnesses said . A medical official in Taiz estimated that at least five people were killed and 90 people had been wounded in Sunday 's violence . Government troops battled suspected Islamic militants for control of a coastal city in Yemen , witnesses said , two days after many soldiers and police abandoned the city . Hundreds of soldiers had moved back into the city by Sunday and were fighting the militants in Zinjibar . At least 35 people were hospitalized , according to a medical official who asked not to be named for security reasons . The militants `` suddenly arrived and in large numbers . There were no clashes when they arrived on Friday night . We tried to complain to security forces but could not find them , '' said a resident of the city of Zinjibar , east of Aden , who also asked not to be named for security reasons . By Saturday , `` hundreds '' of masked militants controlled the main streets of the city , locals said . About 200 militants began `` attacking ferociously and took everybody by surprise '' Saturday morning , according to a Yemeni government official who asked not to be named , since he was not authorized to speak to journalists . Chaos followed as government security forces , including police and soldiers , abandoned their posts , the government source said . Heavy fighting raged Sunday between the Yemeni Army 's 25th Mechanized Brigade and the militants , the source said . More than two dozen soldiers have been killed since the start of the battle Saturday , the source said . Abyan province , where Zinjibar is located , is a hotbed of Islamic militancy in Yemen , a country that has become a key battleground against al Qaeda . Witnesses in the city described the forces in Zinjibar as `` Islamic militants '' but did not specify that they were al Qaeda . Meanwhile , in the capital Sanaa , both the government and the al-Hashid tribe say they have not reached a cease-fire agreement after days of street battles . But a spokesman for the tribe says it is handing back key government buildings it has been occupying . `` Hashid tribes have given the government a number of buildings back after ( President Ali Abdullah ) Saleh promised not to use them to launch attacks on the tribes , '' Abdulqawi al-Qaisi said . `` However , this does not mean that a cease-fire has been signed , '' he said , saying it meant the tribe was `` cooperating for a cease-fire to succeed . '' Government spokesman Tarq Shami said no deal had been made with the tribe , but that it would halt all military action against them for two days to allow mediators to broker a deal between the two sides . Neither side said which facilities were involved . The tribe has been occupying four government ministry buildings . Shami said the government could retake the buildings `` in no time , but ( the government ) does not want violence . '' The powerful al-Hashid tribe rose up against long-time leader Saleh in the last week , after he backed out of a regionally brokered deal meant to ease him out of office and end months of demonstrations of the kind that have swept the Arab world this year . Saleh has been resisting protests calling on him to step down after 33 years in power . The recent fighting has raised fears of a full-blown civil war in Yemen , an impoverished , arid and mountainous nation that has been a key U.S. ally in the battle against the al Qaeda terrorist network .
NEW : At least 5 protesters are dead and 90 wounded in Taiz , a medical official says . Hundreds of government troops fight rebels in Zinjibar , witnesses tell CNN . A rebel tribe says it will hand back government buildings it has been occupying in the city . They try to work out a truce between tribal groups and the government .