2 Yemenis killed, over 20 injured as disaffected veteran riots continue

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Two Yemenis were killed and more than 20 injured when riot police fired bullets to disperse a second day of protests held by retired officers and soldiers wanting to rejoin the army, local officials said Sunday. Nasser Ba Qazqaz, head of the opposition Tagammu Union Party in the southern province of Hadramawt, said the police killed two unarmed civilians and wounded 22 others in the southern city of al-Mukalla, 560 kilometers (350 miles) southeast of the capital, San'a. The Interior Ministry, however, said only one person was killed and five others wounded when ordinary civilians opened fire on the demonstrators trying to protect their property. In a statement, the ministry identified the protesters as "outlaw rioters" and said several people were arrested. Ba Qazqaz rejected the ministry's statement and identified the two killed as Salah al-Qahoum, 15, and Akram Abdu Jarman, 21, adding that authorities arrested 15 other politicians and activists as well as scores of ordinary people.