* At least 17 wounded in clashes in Sanaa, Taiz
* Police fire in air to halt clashes in Taiz
* Rights groups criticise police action against protesters
(Adds protest in Aden, Amnesty statement)
By Mohammed Ghobari and Khaled Abdullah
SANAA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Government loyalists armed with broken bottles, daggers and rocks chased down thousands of pro-reform demonstrators in Yemen&${esc.hash}39;s capital on Monday, turning unrest inspired by Egypt&${esc.hash}39;s uprising increasingly violent.
Police who had been trying to keep the sides apart locked several thousand fleeing protesters inside the Sanaa University campus near where they had been holding their rally. Five people were wounded in the melee, an opposition source said.
"Hey Ali, get out, get out!" anti-government protesters shouted, referring to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a U.S. ally against al Qaeda&${esc.hash}39;s resurgent Yemen-based wing who has been in power for over 30 years. "There is no solution except to leave."
Protests in impoverished Yemen have gained momentum in recent weeks, sometimes drawing tens of thousands of people, but have become more and more violent since Friday with clashes between protesters and police or pro-government groups.
The threat of turmoil in Yemen, already teetering on the brink of failed statehood, has pushed Saleh to offer significant concessions, including a pledge to step down in 2013 and an invitation to the opposition for a reconciliation dialogue.
Analysts have said Yemen is not yet at the point of an Egypt-style revolt, and any upheaval would likely unfold more slowly, and perhaps with more bloodshed, in a heavily armed country where tribal allegiances run strong.
"With our blood, we sacrifice for you Ali!" Saleh supporters chanted in Sanaa before violence erupted. Some of the several hundred loyalists who gathered held pictures of the man who has ruled Yemen for 32 years, and they waved Yemeni flags.
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