DUBAI - Yemeni separatists shot dead a police officer in south Yemen as he drove on his motorcycle, bringing to four the number of people killed in attacks on security men in the south in a week, state media said on Friday.The killing comes after the arrest of at least 80 people this week in security sweeps against separatists in south Yemen, as the government reacted to a week of unrest in which army positions came under fire and northern-owned shops were burned.
Witnesses said they heard heavy gunfire on Thursday from gunmen thought to belong to a separatist militia, and later saw the 45-year-old officer slumped over his motorcycle in Zanjibar in Abyan province, the defence ministry's online newspaper said. It added that the officer had previously received threats from members of the militia, led by a separatist leader formerly loyal to the government, but gave no further details.
The latest tensions flared in southern Yemen when a separatist protester was killed on Feb. 13 after police opened fire at a demonstration. Six others were injured.
Later, police clashed with demonstrators who came to claim the protester's body for burial, igniting unrest in which separatists burned northern-owned shops and tried to block a road linking Lahj province to the main southern city of Aden, residents said.
Separatists killed two people including a senior police official a week ago in an ambush. Two policemen were wounded in an attack by gunmen in the town of Dalea the following day, and on Monday a military officer was killed in south Yemen.