SANAA, Yemen - Six police officers were wounded on Thursday inYemen and two people were killed in the southern provinces as secessionist unrest escalates. Hundreds gathered in the southern provinces of Dhale and Lahj to condemn what they considered the militarization of the region. Yemen launched an offensive against southern separatists after they called for an anti-government uprising in February. Police fired on demonstrators when they raised the flag of the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, the socialist government that ruled south Yemen before unification in 1990, the Yemeni Post reports. Yemeni unity was unsettled during the 1994 civil war that pitted northern forces against southern separatists. Yemeni authorities sent military reinforcements to parts of Lahj province Thursday to deal with separatist demonstrations. The government Wednesday ordered local cellular service providers to shut down in an effort to control the unrest. The Yemeni Post said separatists have swarmed police officials and razed several buildings as the unrest escalates. There are several dead on both sides of the conflict.
