Five dead as Yemen army, police clash

(AFP) Apr 13, 2011

ADEN — Four policemen and an officer in an army unit that has sided with anti-regime protesters were killed in an overnight clash at a checkpoint north of Yemen's capital, a military official said on Wednesday.

"Police attacked an army checkpoint in Amran province," 170 kilometres (105 miles) from Sanaa, "killing one officer and wounding two soldiers," the official told AFP.

Four policemen also died as security forces traded fire with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades in the clash late on Tuesday, he said.

In a separate incident in the main southern city of Aden, soldiers shot dead two anti-regime protesters and wounded four others on Wednesday, medics and witnesses told AFP.

The army opened fire on anti-regime protesters who were trying to block roads in the city, in an attempt to implement a general strike which they have vowed will take place every Saturday and Wednesday, the sources said.