"Gunmen belonging to the Southern Movement attacked a checkpoint between the cities of al-Malah and al-Habilayn, killing one soldier and wounding three others," the official told AFP requesting anonymity.
A witness told AFP that two of the assailants were wounded by retaliatory fire from the army and have been hospitalised in the nearby town of Radfan.
The Southern Movement`s members want either secession or increased autonomy for the formerly independent region. Residents complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government in the distribution of resources since union between north and south in 1990.
The south broke away again in 1994, sparking a brief civil war that ended with the region being overrun by northern forces.
But separatist demands appear to have been currently relegated as an anti-regime uprising has spread nationwide demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh who has been in power for 32 years. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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