Two Shiite militiamen killed in Yemen unrest
Five small bombs hit centre of Sanaa, which has been mostly controlled by Shiite militiamen.
SANAA (AFP) - Two Shiite militiamen were killed in the Yemeni capital on Tuesday in a series of small bomb attacks and a drive-by shooting, a medic and witnesses said.
Five small bombs hit the centre of Sanaa, which has been mostly controlled by the Shiite militiamen since September, killing one of them and wounding two others, a medic said.
The first explosion went off in the old quarter of Sanaa when one of the militiamen, known as Huthis, tried to defuse a bomb discovered underneath the car of a judge. He died in hospital, according to the medic.
Another four bombs planted in garbage containers in the same Bustan al-Sultan neighbourhood then exploded within intervals of about five minutes, an AFP correspondent reported.
The Huthis, who fought authorities for a decade in their northern stronghold, overran Sanaa on September 21 and have since expanded to coastal areas and southern regions.
In a separate attack on Tuesday, a prominent Huthi figure, Faisal Sherif, was shot dead by two gunmen riding a motorcycle near the University of Sanaa, witnesses and a Huthi source said.
Yemen has been wracked by unrest as the Huthi advance is met by fierce opposition from Sunni tribes backed by Yemen s powerful Al-Qaeda affiliate.
The Arabian Peninsula country is also facing continued violence in its restive south, where separatists are pushing for the restoration of independence.
Police on Tuesday shot dead a southern separatist and wounded four others as security forces confronted protesters in Ataq, the provincial capital of southern Shabwa province, activists from the Southern Movement said.
A security official confirmed the toll, adding that police attempted to stop protesters from storming the premises of the local government.
Businesses and schools in Ataq have been closed for two days, witnesses said.
The separatists organise a day of civil disobedience every Monday in southern regions.
A senior separatist figure, Khaled al-Junaidi, was shot dead by security forces earlier this month during a previous day of civil disobedience.
South Yemen was independent from the end of British colonial rule in 1967 to 1990, when it joined the north.
