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Sana'a: Yemeni Interior Minister Rashad Al Alimi has said the ongoing violent protests in southern provinces are receiving support from outside.
Those behind the protests were "just a few of demagogues and rabble-rousers" who are backed by some Yemenis living abroad, the minister said in a report submitted to the parliament, a copy of which was obtained by Gulf News.
The minister also said that the opposition media have contributed to stirring up the riots and violence.
Absence of a dialogue over political issues between the opposition and government, as well as the high poverty and unemployment rates, were also among the reasons behind the violent protests, according to the report.
MP Abdul Kareem Shaiban said that the riots were the result of accumulation of political crises since 1994. "Some government officials have held up a lot of lands in the southern governorates," the MP said.
"Tens of thousands of southerners who were in the Army and university professors were ousted from their posts after the civil war of 1994," he added during the parliament session.
Meanwhile, a group of activists and politicians mostly from opposition organised a demonstration at the gate of the cabinet while it was holding its weekly meeting. They demanded the release of the activists who were arrested in the protests.
Targeted: Six hurt in Bomb attack
Six soldiers were wounded in a bomb attack on their checkpoint in a town in south Yemen where violent job protests have raged for 10 days, a security official said.
"Two of them are in a critical condition ... They were wounded in an bomb attack," the official said. Fifteen people suspected of involvement in the attack are being questioned.
- Reuters
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