Dozens of Yemeni separatist gunmen ambushed a security checkpoint Friday evening in the southern port city of Aden, killing at least three policemen and injuring several others, a police officer told Xinhua.
After three separatist protesters were killed earlier the day by anti-riot police during a demonstration, the separatist gunmen launched a retaliatory attack Friday evening against a security checkpoint in Aden's Khor Maksar district, killing at least three policemen and injuring several others, the police officer said on condition of anonymity, Xinhua reported.
"The security soldiers positioned at the checkpoint exchanged gunfire with the gunmen, but the latter escaped the scene following the attack," said the officer.
Earlier in the day, security forces backed by armored vehicles opened live ammunition to disperse a protest by southern youth activists demanding a secession of the southern regions, killing at least three separatist protesters and injuring 19 others in Khor Maksar, a witness told Xinhua.
Elsewhere in Aden, a powerful explosion rocked the al-Mansoura city, where armored vehicles and tanks were deployed on Friday evening, according to a local resident.
"A huge explosion was heard near a police station and followed by heavy machine gunfire," the resident anonymously told Xinhua.
There were no immediate reports about casualties.
The northern and southern parts of Yemen were unified in 1990 according to a deal between Yemen's ruling General People's Congress party and the Yemeni Socialist Party. However, the deal fell apart, which developed into a civil war in 1994. The southerners' calls for separation were renewed in early 2007.
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