Clashes erupted between pro- unity supporters and scores of secessionists in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Monday, leaving at least five people injured, witnesses told Xinhua.

"Five people were injured during the clashes that took place in Aden's neighborhood of Cerater when a small group of southerners demonstrated calling for separation," the witnesses said on condition of anonymity.

Gunmen among the protesters who were calling for secession opened fire toward the people who sponsored a pro-unity rally, sparking a short shootout, the witnesses added.

"The riot police intervened after the clashes between the two sides, but the pro-unity group and the secessionists are still battling with each others," a security source said.

The port city of Aden is a main stronghold of youth activists demanding outright independence for the south.

North and South Yemen unified peacefully in 1990, but the relationship deteriorated in 1994. Calls for separation in the country's southern regions were renewed in 2007.

Southerners have been complaining of being marginalized, particularly since they lost the four-month civil war in 1994. Pro- secession protests have multiplied in the south amid a worsening economic situation and charges of discrimination in favor of northerners.

Concerns have increased since the conflicts in southern Yemen are creating an unstable state where al-Qaida could more freely operate to gain foothold. Endi

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