Sana'a (Yemen), July 23 (DPA) Eight people were killed and 24 injured in clashes between security forces and supporters of a separatist leader in southern Yemen Thursday, a provincial governor said.

The clashes erupted after a rally in Zunjubar city, some 420 km south of Sana'a, held by members of the Southern Movement, a group calling for the south of Yemen to secede from the north, Ahmad al-Maisari, the governor of the southern province of Abyan said.

He told the official Saba news agency that eight civilians were killed and 18 as well as the Zunjubar police vice superintendent were seriously injured in the clashes.

Al-Maisari said armed supporters of Sheikh Tariq al-Fadhli, a leading separatist, fired RPGs and armour-piercing rockets as they exchanged fire with police after the rally which was addressed by southern secessionist figures.