One person dies in southern Yemen clashes
ADEN, Yemen Nov 18 (Reuters) - One man was killed and two others wounded in clashes between anti-government gunmen and security forces in southern Yemen where separatist sentiment is strong, a news website reported on Wednesday.
Sporadic clashes between state forces and gunmen in the south add to concerns about stability of the country, which is battling a Shi'ite rebellion in the north and al Qaeda militants trying to destabilise the U.S.-allied government.
People in the south, home to most of Yemen's oil facilities, have long complained that northerners abuse a unity agreement to grab their resources and discriminate against them.
Independent website Yemen News reported that a soldier was one of those wounded in the clashes that followed an attack on a vehicle as it drove out of the security department compound in the town of Dalea late on Tuesday.
The website, citing the head of security in Dalea Gahzi al-Ahwal, said the gunmen belonged to the Southern Movement. The group wants to undo the 1990 unification of north and south Yemen to reestablish a south Yemeni state.
A government website said earlier on Wednesday that tens of Yemeni rebels, including leaders, were wounded and killed in clashes with government forces in the north. Yemen stepped up a military campaign against the rebels in August.
Neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and key regional ally of Washington, started a military offensive earlier this month against the Yemeni rebels after an incursion into its territory.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh took power in the former North Yemen in 1978 and has been president since the 1990 unification.
Insecurity has affected international companies developing Yemen's oil and gas sector and attacks on foreigners, including kidnappings by disgruntled tribesmen, have hit tourism. (Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaff; Writing by Inal Ersan; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)
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