Yemen government blames separatists for Aden clashes

Yemen government blames separatists for Aden clashes
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Fighters from the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) drive their pick up in Aden on Thursday. (AFP)
Yemen government blames separatists for Aden clashes
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Smoke rises during clashes in Aden, Yemen Thursday. (Reuters)
Updated 08 August 2019
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Yemen government blames separatists for Aden clashes

Yemen government blames separatists for Aden clashes
  • One person killed as southern separatists and presidential guards clash for a second day
  • Government says fighting 'threatens security and stability'

ADEN: Southern separatists and presidential guards fought for a second day on Thursday in Aden, with at least one person killed, residents said.

That followed three deaths and nine injuries when gunfire erupted between the rivals on Wednesday.

The separatists are nominally allied with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in a coalition battling the Iran-aligned Houthis. But they have rival agendas for Yemen and the separatists accused a Hadi-allied party of complicity in an attack last week on their soldiers.

Hadi’s internationally recognized government Thursday blamed the separatist leaders for the flare up that “threatened the safety and stability of citizens and security and stability in general.”

After Wednesday’s  funeral for some of the troops killed in last week’s missile strike on a parade, separatist supporters fought with guards near the hilltop presidential palace in the Crater district of the southern port city, witnesses said.

Thursday's fatality came when fighting flared again and a stray bullet hit a man walking in the street, witnesses and his relatives said. Sounds of gunfire and heavy weaponry echoed into the evening while smoke and fire could be seen rising.

The UN envoy for Yemen and a senior UAE official have both called for calm in the city.