Yemeni security forces clash with secessionists in Aden, 5 injured

Source   :   Xinhua

ADEN, Yemen, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni security forces clashed with pro- secession protesters in the southern port city of Aden on Saturday, leaving five people injured, a government official told Xinhua.

The clashes erupted when hundreds of pro-secession demonstrators staged an anti-government protest in Aden's neighborhood of Mansoura, the local government official said on condition of anonymity, confirming that five were seriously injured.

"Soldiers guarding the police headquarters in Mansoura fired teargas to disperse dozens of secessionist protesters who were hurling stones at the guards," the source said.

Local residents said army and security reinforcements have intensified in the area to prevent the protesters from attacking the police centers and government buildings.

Last Monday, Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi launched a national dialogue aimed at ending separatist movement in the south, creating a new constitution and paving the way for holding parliamentary and presidential elections in February 2014 after a two-year transition.

However, leaders of the separatist Southern Movement refused to join the talks, insisting that the Sanaa government should withdraw northern troops from the south.

In Aden, tens of thousands of the pro-secession Southern Movement rallied on Monday to call for their regions to be seceded from the north part.

The southerners complain of being economically and politically marginalized and discriminated against by the former regime since northern troops won a four-month civil war in 1994.

Hadi has repeatedly called for separatist groups in Aden and other major southern cities to join the talks, and promised compensation and settlement to the southerners.