Five people, including two troops, died on Wednesday in clashes between security forces and protesters in southern Yemen, a local official told AFP. "Five people, among them two soldiers, were killed and 10 people were wounded in clashes at the entrance of the town of Ataq," the capital of Shabwa province, 500 kilometres southeast of Sanaa, the official said.

The clashes started after security forces and troops tried to stop thousands of demonstrators calling for southern secession from entering the city, the official said. A demonstration was under way inside the city to mark the British withdrawal from Aden on November 30, 1967.