A civilian was killed and four others were injured in clashes between the security forces and gunmen in Yemen's southern Taiz province where the local government has imposed strict measures to disarm civilians, Alahale website reported on Thursday.
It quoted local sources as saying the clashes erupted while the security forces were continuing the disarming campaign in Jamal Street.
"A group of civilians refused to hand over their guns and when the forces insisted on disarming them, they clashed with them," one of the sources said, according to the website.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni official agency Saba reported the casualties occured after outlaws attacked a patrol while the security forces were on the disarming campaignand combat roaming with guns in downtown the Yemeni cultural capital. It quoted a local security source as saying the outlaws fired at the patrol and also randomly at the street killing ,Moyad Al-Odaini, and injuring four others. Also, stores were affected by the shooting in the city that has been recently named as the country's cultural capital.
Lately, tensions renewed in Taiz, which was rocked by deadly battles between pro- and anti-revolution forces last amid strict measures by the new governor to combat carrying weapons in main cities.
Yemen has been ranked on top of countries with regard to the number of the guns in the hands of civilians. Statistics suggest there are more than 60 million weapons in the hands of civilians, more than double the country's population.