Soldier wounded in clash with protesters in S Yemen

At least one of the security forces guarding a palace of the Yemeni Vice President was wounded during clashes with separatist southern protesters in the country's main southern city of Aden, a provincial official said on Friday.

The soldier was hospitalized on the spot as the police along with security guards of the palace of Vice President Abdu Rabuh Mansour Hadi were trying to keep hundreds of southern separatist protesters in the street away from the palace, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The clashes, which took place on Thursday evening, sparked after the demonstrators' march approached the vice president's palace near Al-Saada neighborhood in Aden, during which the security forces exchanged fire with some armed protesters, the official said, adding that "the gunshot hit the security guard in his right arm."

The Security forces also used tear gas to disperse the protesters who blocked several roads and set car tyres ablaze, according to the official.

On Wednesday, two anti-riot policemen and two southern protesters were critically injured when security forces attempted to disperse a protest march in Al-Saada area in Aden.

Northern and southern parts of Yemen unified in 1990 under a deal between the People's General Congress Party and the Yemeni Socialist Party. However, the country witnessed a civil war in 1994 after the two parties fell apart.

Inspired by the last week Tunisian popular uprising, hundreds of Yemenis took to the streets in major cities, including the capital Sanaa, during the past six days to protest against their own government's political and economic policies.

Source: Xinhua