Clashes with local security forces killed six supporters of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) in southeast Yemen on Wednesday, two sources told AFP.
Yemeni government forces backed by Saudi Arabia in January dislodged the UAE-backed STC from swathes of territory it had seized in southern Yemen.
Since then, it has repeatedly called on its members to stage demonstrations calling for the creation of an independent state in southern Yemen.
On Wednesday, hundreds of supporters of the separatist group gathered in Ataq, the capital of Shabwa province, in front of the headquarters of the local authorities, according to witnesses.
“Six people were killed and 23 others injured among the supporters of the STC while they were attempting to enter the building to remove the Yemeni flag,” an official in the security forces said on condition of anonymity.
A medical source confirmed the toll to AFP.
Three eyewitnesses told AFP that the demonstrators were shot at while trying to enter the government headquarters.
The local authorities accused “heavily armed infiltrators” of attacking security forces, reporting “multiple deaths and injuries.”
STC chief Aidarous al-Zubaidi — who has fled to Abu Dhabi according to Saudi authorities — on Tuesday called on supporters to “keep up the fight” and boost support for the separatist group.
The United Arab Emirates was part of a Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to back the government against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who seized the capital Sanaa the previous year.
But that alliance has since fractured, with the UAE backing the separatists, who launched their offensive against the Saudi-supported government forces in early December.
