Yemen: Four separatist protesters in south shot dead

Yesterday (July 7) in the southern port city of Aden Yemeni security forces shot and killed 4 men participating in a separatist march. A total of 18 were wounded. The government claims that the protesters had attacked security forces. The protesters had been trying to gain access to a public square in Aden. The protest march was held to commemorate a day in 1994 when government forces from the north had invaded Aden at the end of a civil war. Aden was the capital of the independent country of South Yemen until 1990. There were protests in other southern cities as well and a leader of the Southern Movement Saleh Yahya was arrested. Even though the former president stepped down in February in a deal brokered by the GCC and supported by the U.S. divisions in the country remain. However, much of the territory seized by militants has now been retaken but at considerable cost to both sides and displacement of citizens. The U.S. was involved both in aerial attacks and special forces used as advisers on the ground. For more see this article. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/07/us-yemen-protest-idUSBRE86606L20120707