SANAA
By Mohamed al-Samei
Five people were killed on Tuesday in clashes between security forces and armed southern separatists in Yemen's Shabwah province, security and medical sources said.
The gunfight erupted in the central city of Ataq after a verbal altercation between a security force and a group of separatists, the sources said.
The ensuing violence left five people dead – four soldiers and one separatist – and six people injured, medical sources said.
Southern Yemen has been in a state of turmoil since tribal leaders called for a "popular uprising" earlier this month to protest the killing of a tribal chieftain at a security checkpoint.
Southern Yemenis complain of widespread discrimination, citing the recent dismissal of thousands of southerners from government posts and the arbitrary confiscation of property.
The government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi had earlier offered an official apology for the 1994 civil war, pledging to reinstate sacked employees and army officers of southern origin.
The government has also created a fund with the stated aim of providing sacked workers with compensation.
ennglishnews@aa.com.tr
